Charlie: A Pokemon Cinderella Story
by Troy168
Summary: A story of dreams and hope. When Charlie, a nobleman, moved into his new home with his new family, he believes that things will be special. But when her mother goes off on an important business trip, his step-father and his step-sons begin to act cruelly to him. By making him wear ragged clothing, forcing chores onto him, and making sure that he doesn't have a happy life.
1. A dream of becoming a splendid young man

**01: A dream of becoming a splendid young man**

In the world that's filled with luxury, life, flounder, hopes and dreams. Lies a land that's full of Pokemon and Humans. And in the land that's full of Pokemon and Humans lies a town that holds a lot of cheerful people and pokemon. A town that is called: Espérer. In this town, various shops and trades are happening, non-stop. Festivals of grandeur are well known in all of the land. And the sound of children's laughter can be heard for miles on end. And for this special day is none other than the annual flower festival, a three day event that celebrates the blossoming of flowers. And among the folks of both Pokemon and humans to take part in the event, a lone figure is walking down the streets. With red and yellow fur on the body, as well as wearing a gorgeous blue hat and dress, this lovely figure is none other than the lovely Cinder, the Delphox.

She is visiting the festivals as a means of exploring some wonderful views on some lovely flowers. With a bag containing her art supplies in her arms, she prepares to search for the right moment to paint a lovely pictures. As she moves down the streets, three cheerful children are laughing as they follow each other through the crowds. She notices this and stops in her place, allowing the children move around her a few times, before moving on to something else. "Looks like the children are having fun in the first day of the flower festival." Cinder said as she giggles. "It will sure bring me such a wonderful memory, when I paint it." Just as Cinder was browsing at a flower store, a sudden gust of wind blew her hat out of her head. "Oh no. My hat." Cinder said as she saw her hat flying away. She then proceeds to give chase through the street, as the hat continues to flew in the air.

The hat then eventually landed on a statue of an old man in the fountain, as Cinder makes her way to the fountain. She then gently place her bag on the ground, before proceeding to climb on the fountain. Cinder then manage to get near to the top of the statue as she manages to grab her hat and place it back on her head. But before she could get down, the sounds of music attracted her attention as she turned and saw a group of Pokemon and people huddling around a bunch of dancers. "Such lovely music. I can see why they would be dancing to such lovely music." Cinder said as she starts humming to the music, while waving her finger to the tempo of the music. Once she was satisfied listening to the music, she proceeds to step back down. But she misstep as she stumbles for a bit and she ended up falling backward…

...only to be caught by someone. "Are you okay, miss?" the sounding young gentleman said. Cinder then look at her savior, and sees a rathering young man with a short straight black hair. "Yes. I'm fine. Thank you." Cinder said to her savior. The young man then gently bring Cinder to her feet. She then turns around and sees a tailor-made suit, that's fit for a nobleman. The Nobleman then said: "It was nothing. I'm just glad that I could help." "Charlie!" said the lovely sounding woman, before Cinder could even say something. "The parade is about to start. You don't want to be late, do you?" "Coming, mother." Said the young nobleman called Charlie. As Cinder was shocked to hear the name Charlie, he turned to Cinder and said: "I'm sorry. But I must be going now. I hope that you have fun with the festival, miss." Charlie then heads towards where that lovely sounding woman came from. "Charlie…" Cinder whispered, as she sees Charlie heading towards a rather young-looking woman with long, blond hair. After Cinder sees the two of them talk to each other, they proceeded to walk together as Cinder waves then goodbye. _So… This is Charlie. Well, he sure has grown up to be a fine gentleman._

Charlie Lestorm, the name that he is honored by. Though his first name was given by his lovely parents, his last name was given when her mother had to remarry, after the tragic loss of her loving husband. Yes, Charlie was born and raised as a nobleman. Throughout the years, all he can remember is all the good and fun times that he has with their parents. Though the loss of his father did startle him, he knows that he can't lose faith in goodwill towards both Pokemon and humans. And as for her mother, Nancy Lestorm, she goes on these exhibition trips around the world as a presenter of art. Though the act of traveling between places is rather dangerous, it is the means of getting the family through some rather hard times. And while she would be sad to leave her only son alone, at least she knows that her new husband will take good care of him, once she heads out.

The two of them made their way through the crowds and ended up standing within the crowds, where they are watching a parade in progress. The parade that's consist of acrobats balancing on colorful balls, a couple of clowns juggling some knives in the air, a couple of uniform men riding on Rapidashs and carrying a royal flag, and a lone piper blowing on a pipe and four Serperiors gracefully moving along to the sound of the pipe. "Isn't it beautiful, mother?" Charlie asked as he watches the parade with full of glee and delight. Nancy giggles as she then said: "Why, of course. It's wonderful enough to make anybody's dreams come true." She then look at Charlie and said: "Do you have a dream, my precious son?" Charlie then broke his view of the parade to look at her mother and said: "Of course, I do." He then look to his other side and stare at the gorgeous looking castle from the distance and said: "Someday… I hope that I can live in a wonderful castle, where I can help people and Pokemon with their problems. And hopefully, someone that I can trust and fell in love with."

The castle that Charlie speaks of, is currently reign over by Pokemon. And although most of the town's population is Pokemon, there hasn't been signs of turmoil and wraith against the owners of the castles. And that's thanks to the princess of the castle. While Charlie hasn't met the princess of the castle at all, he has heard a lot of good things about her. The way her presence can attract the hearts of many men of both Pokemon and humans alike. The way her angelic singing voice that charm all those around her. And the way she moves is like a delicate water, gracefully moving across the stone without breaking her form. Yes, it is everything that he hears about her that captures the hearts of a lot of men. And while he wonders if he ever gets the chance to meet with the princess, he knows that he has no reason to go up to the castle, just to meet her. After all, even though he's a nobleman, his feats are nothing compared to the princess's feats.

Nancy then places her hand on his shoulders and said: "Well, you know what they say. Some dreams do come true." Charlie then turns to her mother and said: "I hope so, from the bottom of my heart." "I'm sure that it will, my son. After all, you are a worthy gentleman. A strong man with a kind heart and a brave warrior with an honest soul." "I'm not so sure if I can be brave, with you going away on that trip, mother…" Charlie said as he is saddened by the fact that while they'll be moving to a new place once the parades are over, she'll have to go out on her trip after the parade is over, meaning she does not have time to at least explore their new home. "I know that… But you know that it's very important for me to go on that trip." Nancy said with a sad look on her face. But then she quickly smiles as she then said: "Now cheer up. I can promise you that once I came back, I will bring you lots of gifts from my travels." Charlie look at her mother's face and smiles, knowing that her safe trip back home is an enough gift for him.

"I got it! I got it!" Said a rather energetic boy. This caught the attention of both Charlie and Nancy as they turn to the source of the voice. And they discover a strange thing hurling in the sky and a young boy with a grey shirt, grey pants and brown vest, chasing after it. Of course they recognize who the boy is as he managed to catch the strange thing, which turns out to be a wooden disc. "Ha! I told you that I got it!" Said the energetic boy. And further from the energetic boy, was an older boy with brown shirt, brown pants and grey vest. And an older gentleman with black hair and grey suit, while holding on to a book in his hand. They then recognize that the older gentleman was none other than Albert Lestorm, Charlie's new step-father. And the two boys are Max and Alex Lestorm, Charlie's new step-brothers.

From what Charlie knows, Nancy met Albert during one of her exhibition trips and they seem to get along pretty well. They discuss a lot of details about each other, including the loss of their respective spouses, with his earlier wife dying from an illness. They eventually got married and with the money pooled together, they manage to purchase their new home together, alongside his two sons. The older step-brother is called Alex, who is often the tougher of the two. And the younger step-brother is called Max, who is often the speedier of the two. Although he heard how the two boys like to bicker with each other, he believes that they get along just fine and how it will be fun to have two brothers to interact with. "Yeah, you may have caught it. But you could have hurt our mother by accident." Alex said, causing Max to look confused at first before turning around and seeing the two. This causes Max to feel embarrassed as he said: "O-Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" But Nancy giggles as she said: "Oh, that's all right. You two were just having fun." Albert starts to chuckle as he then said: "She's right. There's nothing wrong with having fun." The two starts to laugh as Alex chuckles, while Max feels embarrassed. _You know… Maybe things won't be so bad, after all…_

After the parade has ended, the family is in their carriage as they rode off to their new home. As Albert and his two sons are sitting on one side, Nancy and Charlie are sitting at the other side as Charlie is looking out the window to see the wonderful view from outside. "Now are you sure you can't take a look at our lovely new home, my dear?" Albert asked, and Nancy replied: "Oh, you know that I can't do that. I have to depart for my trip. But did you at least got the rooms set-up for our boys?" "Of course, my dear. I have made sure that everyone got their own rooms." Albert said with confidence. After all, it was Albert himself that visit their new home first, so it made sense that he set up the rooms for their children. A few moments later, Charlie spot something from the distance and discovers…

...that his new home is actually a three-story mansion, with a patio on the second floor. He is amazed that he is going to be living in a lovely place. Once there carriage has stopped, their hired hand, Cesar, proceeds to get off of the carriage and open the carriage's door for the Lestorms. As Albert and the two brothers get off first, a black and grey hair dog exits the building to see what the commotion is. But then it gets excited as it charges towards Charlie as he exits the carriage. He took a few steps forward, before being tackled to the ground by said dog. This alerts Nancy as she takes a look outside, only to start laughing as she said: "Oh Zeus, you know we have been gone for a few hours." Even though that they were gone for a few hours, it didn't matter to Zeus the Mightyena. He was happy to see Charlie safe as he shares his affection by licking Charlie's face, and Charlie is laughing with Zeus licking his face.

After all, these two have been together since Zeus was a Pootchyena and Charlie was a child. And while these two have their ups and downs, they know that they'll always be the best of friends. Once Zeus stops licking Charlie's face, he wipes the saliva off of his face with his sleeve while saying: "It's good to see you again, Zeus." As Charlie gets on his knee and starts petting Zeus, two large cat Pokemon exited the mansion, as Albert walks up to them. To his left is a pale fur cat with a red jewelry on its head, and to his right is a purple and yellow fur cat with a pink "mask". "I see that the two of you have managed to keep the place safe while we're gone, Jen and Ruby." Albert said as the two cat Pokemon starts to smuggle up to his legs. The cat Pokemon that was named Jen and Ruby are Albert's pets, with Jen being a Persian and Ruby being a Liepard. Although Charlie didn't get to meet them at first, he would always hear from his brothers that with Zeus around, it would pretty much tear the house down with their natural instinct to fight each other. But it looks like things are going well for Zeus, so Charlie believes that maybe it'll take some time before Jen and Ruby would feel comfortable around him.

"Everything is all set, miss. Just say the word and we'll head to the port, right away." Cesar said as he places the last of their luggage by the doorway, aside from Nancy's luggage. Nancy then looks at her family and said: "Now I know that my trip is going to be long. But I'll try and hurry back as soon as possible." "Of course, my dear. And I know that fame and fortune would never replace you, nor your safe return." Albert said as he bowed his head. He then lift his head and said: "And I can assure you that me and the boys will take care of ourselves from here." Nancy then smiles as she said: "That's good. Just remember. If you need anything, feel free to ask Cesar." Nancy then signals Cesar to start the carriage. As Cesar starts the carriage, the Zebstrikas that brought them here began to move as Albert, Charlie and the brothers wave them goodbye. "Goodbye mother. I'll miss you a lot!" Charlie said as Nancy looks behind her and smiles as she waves back to them.

Nearby, Cinder, the Delphox that Charlie saved earlier, is busy painting the scenery of the bridge with a beautiful stream from below the bridge. As she is painting the scenery, the sounds of the moving carriage caught her attention. When she looked away from the painting, she saw two Zebstrikas pulling the carriage with the driver near the top of the carriage. And although she cannot see who's inside the carriage, she knows who it belongs to. _Poor Charlie… It's been six years since he lost his father. And now his mother is going away on an exhibition trip._ She then turn and see Charlie and the family continuing to wave, as the distance between them and the carriage grew further and further._ And all he has to comfort him are his step-father and his two step-brothers._ Once the carriage is out of their view, Albert and his sons stopped waving as they grab their luggage and proceeds to enter their new home, while Charlie continues to wave goodbye to her mother. _But I did promise his father that I will look out for him and that is exactly what I intend to do. I have a feeling that he is going to need a friend._

After a while, Charlie stopped waving his hand as he grabbed his luggage from the doorway. He then enters the mansion, with Zeus following behind him. Upon entering, he was amazed to see a huge lobby with a gorgeous set of stairs leading to the second floor hallway. The lobby itself is spacious and is decorated with luxury vases, beautiful paintings from various talented artists, and gorgeous flowers that can be found from the wild. As Zeus runs off to explore his surroundings in the first floor, Charlie proceeds to head upstairs. From what he's told, their new home has four bedrooms in the mansion. Five, if you count Cesar's room besides servant's entrance. And while Charlie is concerned and feels guilty that he has to sleep in a separate room, far away from them, Cesar assures him that as long as he can help him and his family, anything can be a home to him.

Once Charlie reach the second floor, he notices one of the doors opened. He makes his way towards the open door, and saw a huge room with Alex laying on the bed. The room itself has a lovely patio from outside, and a large dresser for him to use. Amaze by the room, Charlie enters the room and said: "Wow… Is this your room, Alex?" "It sure is." Alex said as he turns his head towards him. Alex then said: "After all, since I'm the oldest, I deserve to get the biggest bedroom in the mansion." "Isn't the biggest bedroom in the mansion called the Master's Bedroom?" Said Max as he enters the room. As Charlie turns around, Max then said: "After all, the Master Bedroom belongs to our father." This causes Alex to sit up quickly as he said: "I-I know! I'm just saying that out of all of the normal bedrooms in the mansion, I get the biggest one!"

"Yeah, you may keep that dakny room, while I get a much better bedroom." Max said as he heads to the door in front of him and opens it. Charlie then proceeds to walk up to Max's room and saw that although his room is smaller, it does have a larger patio than Alex, and has a nice view of the sky from the ceiling. "Whoa… Your room pretty nice, Max." "Hey! You never said anything nice about my room!" Alex said after he left his bedroom. Max then turns to Alex and said: "Maybe he didn't say anything nice because he knows that my room is much better!" "What was that!" Alex said as he gets up close to Max's face. But Charlie manages to leave Max's room while saying: "Don't worry Alex, your room is nice too." As Alex and Max looks at Charlie, Charlie look through the hallway and notices that one of the doors is ajar. He then proceeds to open the door while saying: "I'm guessing that this is my room?" But when he opens the door, he discovers that it's a simple bedroom with a patio, like before. But he also discovered that Jen and Ruby are laying on the bed with no intent on leaving their spot.

"Actually, Charlie. That room belongs to my lovely pets." Albert said as Charlie turned to his side, and saw him, Alex and Max together. Albert then said: "They're family to us. So it makes sense that they get their own room. Isn't that right, Charlie?" Confused, Charlie said: "I… I guess… But… Where am I going to sleep? There aren't any more bedrooms." Albert then said: "Why… Yes there is. There's the attic upstairs." "What?!" Charlie said as he is shocked over what Albert has said. But what shocked him more is when Alex said: "Yeah. The rooms dusty, but at least you get a good view outside." And Max then said: "He's right. There's no way you deserve to get a nice room like ours." "But that's not fair!" Charlie said in protest, but Albert then said: "The decision's final. After all, with your mother gone, I'm in charge of this mansion. So you'll have to listen to what I say."

"Yeah! And you'll have to listen to what we have to say!" Alex said as he walks up to Charlie. Alex then said: "So whatever we say to you, we expect you to do it." "B-But…" Charlie said as he tries to voice his concern, but Max walks up to him and tosses him some clothing as he said: "And… You will have to wear this from now on!" As Charlie look at the clothing that Max tossed to him, he saw that the clothing is all ragged looking. Charlie then look at Albert and said: "B-But… This isn't mine…" But Albert then said: "Yes it is. From now on, you will be responsible for every task we give you. Which includes cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, and whatever stuff we come up with." This mortifies Charlie as he can't believe that not only are they doing such cruel things to him, but they're forcing him to do all of the work. "Now hurry up and move your things into the attic." Albert said as he turned around and walked down the hall. While Alex said: "Yeah! You'll need to look good as our servant!" As he proceeds to shove Charlie down to the floor. This causes him to fall to the ground as the brothers proceeds to laugh at him as they make their way to their room, while Max said: "And hurry up! You're blocking the hallway!" As their bedroom closes, Charlie closes his eyes as he grippens his luggage. _Why… Why are they cruel to me…? What did I do to them to cause this…?_

Charlie manages to get back up as he slowly goes upstairs, to where the attic is. Once he reached the third floor, he opens the door and is greeted by a wave of dust. This causes Charlie to cover his mouth as he coughs, while the dust goes past him. Once the dust has clear, Charlie enters into a dark-pitch room with the only light source coming from the open door. Seeing a closed window, Charlie move to the window and proceeds to open it… Only for more dust to come from behind him, causing him to cough again. When he turns around, he saw that the room is quite dusty and its cluttered with some luggage (Most likely, the stuff that Charlie had packed before he moved.) Trying to make the best of the situation, he spots a small table and proceeds to place his luggage on the table. Upon opening, he saw a lovely antique Ralts doll that his late father bought for him. It was a special antique doll that sings a lovely lullaby to him when he was very young. It was very precious to him that connects him to his late father. When he pulled the doll out, he saw the other clothing that he had packed. Though now, he's not going to need then, nor he risk the others tear it up with no remorse.

Just as he closes the luggage, unknown to him, both Ruby and Jen had sneak their way up the attic and hid behind some luggage, waiting for the right moment to strike. He then place the Ralts doll on the luggage as he stands up. _Well… It's going to be tough… But… I've got to make the best of it._ Just then, a noise has caught Charlie's attention. But when he turned to the source of the noise, he is greeted by the sudden wave of dust (Which was caused by Jen and Ruby) The dust goes through him as both Jen and Ruby quickly ran downstairs, just as Charlie is busy coughing from the dust cloud. "Charlie! What are you doing up there! And why aren't you working!" Albert yelled from downstairs. A moment later, Alex yelled: "Charlie! I need you to come here and clean my suits! I need to wear them, tonight!" And then Max yelled: "Hey! I'm starving here! Hurry up and make me something!" After Charlie manages to clear the dust cloud, he said: "Uh… I'm coming…" He then looked down and saw his suit has been all dusted from the dust clouds from before. He sighs as he feels like it'll be the last time that he'll be able to wear them.

Once he changed into his ragged clothing, he went throughout the mansion to deal with the tasks Albert and his brothers has thrusted into him. Which includes grabbing Alex's dirty laundry and cleaning them for tonight, making fresh bread for Max to eat for lunch, chopping down a series of wood for the fire stoves in the mansion, and cleaning and preparing the dining room for dinner for Albert and his step-brothers. And while that has been going on, Zeus has been watching the whole thing and is feeling sad for the amount of work and abuse that Charlie has to go through. But what he doesn't realize is that both Jen and Ruby are right above him, and that Zeus is lying near a valuable vase. After the two quickly starred and nodded at each other, Jen proceeds to pounce on Zeus's tail, causing the Mightyena to let out a howlering pain… Only for Ruby to quickly bounce off of the vase, causing it to fall on Zeus's head.

This causes Zeus to get up and shake his head from the pain, as both Jen and Ruby landed near each other. Once Zeus turns around and spots the two culprits, he gets incredibly mad as he starts to growl. Jen and Ruby immediately got into position, before quickly running away as Zeus starts to chase them from all over the lobby, while barking at the two. "What's going on out there?!" Said Albert as he enters the lobby from the second floor. This causes Jen and Ruby to run behind Albert while he's on the stairs, while Zeus stays at the bottom floor and continues to bark at the two. "Oh my… Did this mean mutt try to hurt you, my girls?" Albert said as he pets his cat Pokemon, who responds by purring for him. He then looked at his right and said: "Charlie! Get over here now!" Charlie then quickly ran into the lobby and saw that the vase was on the ground (Not knowing that it was Ruby that done it.) He then picked up the vase and set it up, when Albert said: "Charlie, this dog is the cause of that mess and he's trying to hurt my family. He is getting too big for his own worth. From now on, he is not allowed to stay in the main mansion."

The news has pretty much shocked Charlie. Not only did he accused Zeus of the vase mess, but also banned Zeus from stepping foot in the mansion. Wanting to protest, Charlie said: "But… He's been living with us since he was little." Zeus then proceeds to stand by Charlie's side as he then said: "Besides, if he can't stay in the mansion, he'll get very sad." But this has caused Albert to stared fiercely at Charlie and said: "Are you questioning my authority, Charlie? I would advise you to hold your tongue, boy. Do not forget that I am the head of the household. It would be a great shame if your mother were to hear about your disobedience with me and my boys." While Albert words have put a strain on Charlie, what comes next would shock him, as Alex arrives from the second floor and said: "You can't, father! If our mother were to find out, it would put a strain on our family!" Then Max comes out from the dining room and said: "Yeah! We don't want anything bad to our mother if she has to come home earlier than expected." The two brothers then quickly rush to Charlie, as Alex said: "I know that you may think that father is strict, but he is quite serious when he's angry." "Yeah. Please let Zeus stay outside, for all of our sake. It's not like he's asking you to get rid of him." Max said as he is pleading for his life. Charlie look at the two very scared step-brothers, then look at his step-father's serious look. _I never seen the two so scared before… And I'm worried that my mother would be disappointed in me… And would my step-father kick me and Zeus out of the house…? Oh, mother… I wish things were back as they were before…_

In the end, Charlie decided to go through with Albert's order and brought Zeus outside. As Zeus is lying on the ground and feeling depressed, Charlie tries to cheer him up as he said: "I'm sorry Zeus… I'll try and make this up to you." Just then, they heard the sound of the moving carriage. The two turned to the source and saw that Cesar has returned from dropping off her mother from the pier. As Charlie goes up to him, he said: "Hey Cesar. Did my mother's ship leave?" Cesar manages to stop the carriage as he said: "Of course, Charlie. The ship left as soon as the Duke shows up. As it turns out, they were waiting for him." But before Cesar could ask him about the clothing he wears, Albert exits the building in a stylish suit with Jen and Ruby, causing Cesar to turned to him and said: "Oh. What can I do for you, sir." Albert proceeds towards the carriage as he said: "My sons and I are going into town. Charlie, I want you to clean the entire mansion and prep dinner for us, when we come back." And although Cesar is starting to get an idea on things, he still said: "Where to, sir?" "The town square to sign both Alex and Max up for the Bachelor Contest, where they'll crown the Flower Festival's Prince." Albert said as he stands besides the carriage, while Jen and Ruby stand next to him.

Then both Alex and Max exit the mansion as Alex said: "Don't get your hopes up, Charlie. Only the most stunning and cuning of men can take the prize. So don't bother signing up, it's obvious you don't fit the bill." "Besides, with the two of us entering the contest, the others don't stand a chance." The two step-brothers then laugh as they enter the carriage with Albert, while Charlie said: "Well… Can't I lease come with you?" But Albert replied with: "No, you cannot. You need to stay here and do your work. And remember, I want this place to be spotless." As Cesar sees Charlie's depressed expression, Albert then said: "Oh and I want you to be particular with the floor that "dog" of yours was on." As much as Charlie wants to protest, he knows he cannot win, so he said: "Right away, sir." "Oh, I almost forgot. I want you to wash and iron those sheets before you made our beds." Albert said as he adds more chores into Charlie's ever expanding list of chores. And then Alex added: "Oh and clean out my bedroom. It looks like some Tauros has been living there." As much as Cesar wants to say something, as much as Cesar wants to help Charlie with his chores, as much as Cesar wants to tell Albert off, he knows that he's not in a better position as Charlie if he dares challenge Albert's authority. "Cesar!" Albert said as he signals him to go. Cesar didn't say anything as he starts moving the Zebstrikas. _Stay strong, Charlie…_

As the carriage goes further and further away from the mansion, Charlie is still feeling depressed over how his step-father and his step-brothers treat him. _Oh mother… It hasn't even been a day yet… And they…_ As Zeus goes up to Charlie and lick his fingers to get his attention, Charlie look surprised as he turns around and saw Zeus. Charlie then smiles as he goes on his knee and pets Zeus, while saying: "Well, at least I got you, Zeus." This manages to get Zeus happy, as Charlie suddenly got up and starts to run, allowing Zeus to happily chase him as Charlie starts laughing as he is having fun with Zeus. Meanwhile, Cinder is putting the finishing touches on her painting of the bridge, when the sounds of a moving carriage caught her attention again. When she looks at the carriage, while she saw the same driver as before, but also Albert and his two sons. "Man…. I can't believe that Charlie is such a pushover." Alex said as they're laughing at his misfortune. _I can't believe that they would leave Charlie behind. It looks like their true colours are showing. I know that my paint is almost finished, but I think it's time to check up with Charlie._

At the town square, the workers are busy setting up the judging booths and the wooden stands for the annual Flower Festival's Bachelor and Bachelorette contest. The contest that pits the Bachelor and the Bachelorette in a show, where they present themselves to the audience and the judges as they try to woo the masses to them. And in the end, only one Bachelor and one Bachelorette will be chosen as the Prince and the Princess of the Flower Festival. And when they received the titles, they will be the representatives in the final days of the Flower Festival. As the workers are doing their jobs, Alex and Max are on the stage as they are practicing presenting themselves on stage, while Albert watches them. "Man, my body is so good. In fact, I'm confident that my strength will impress the ladies in the world." Alex said as he starts flexing his muscles, though Max then jest: "Yeah right. As you're too busy flexing your muscles, I'll be quick on my feet to impress the ladies. In fact, I'll be so quick, I can sweep ladies off their feet before they even realize it."

"Yeah right, you stu-" Alex said, but Albert cuts him off by saying: "Stay calm, you two. Remember why I brought you here in the first place. Though I heard that this year is quite special." Curious, the two brothers look at his father, as Max said: "What do you mean, father?" "I heard that the entire royal family will be there." Albert explains, causing Alex to excitedly say: "Really? Are you sure?" Albert then confirms it by saying: "Yes. I heard that the King and Queen are looking for potential groom for their Princess. So my best bet is that they'll be taking a close look at the Bachelor portion of the contest." Max starts to get excited as well as he said: "Man… Can you imagine if the King and Queen were to notice me." While Alex said: "And just wait until I get to marry the Princess." Knowing his sons well, Albert said: "You two have the best chances out of any other so called "bachelors". And since I married a lovely Noblewoman, there is no comparison over how charming and stylish you two are." And while Albert is standing there, both Jen and Ruby starts to purr up on his leg, knowingly that he is a wise man to them.

Back at the mansion. After Charlie is done playing with Zeus, he proceeds to take care of the sheets for his step-father and step-sons. As he places the wooden bucket full of sheets on the ground, he grabs one of them and hangs it on the hanger, while Zeus is looking at him with a sad look as he wants to help him. As Charlie spread out the sheet, he heard Zeus's bark as he turns around and saw that Zeus is holding on to one of the bundle up sheets in his mouth. "Zeus. It's nice of you that you want to help me." As Charlie goes on his knee to grab the bundled sheet from Zeus, he discovers that although the sheet is almost dry, there are bits of Zeus's saliva sticking on the sheets. Zeus also sees the drool stains that he mades and starts to feel sad, but Charlie then said: "Don't you worry, Zeus. I can just wipe it off." But a sudden gust of wind appears and blown the sheet away from the hanger and landed on Charlie. This caught Charlie off guard as he stumbles from getting up, and ended up falling backwards on the ground. He slowly gets up, while the sheet is on him, as he said: "Ow… What am I going to do now…"

Nearby, Cinder had made her way to where Charlie is while hiding behind a tree. Seeing his latest misfortune, she said: "Oh dear… It looks like Charlie is having a series of bad luck. I think it's time for him to get a helping hand, but I must be discreet, for my time to meet him is not now." Determined to help him, she pulled out her brush that she uses to paint the picture and starts to twirl it around. As it twirls, it magically transformed from a paint brush into her very own magic wand. With her wand gripped, she cast a magic spell over towards some nearby trees, while saying: "When a boy who's pure and kind has fallen on the deep end, his friends will come and bring him back up." As the spell dust lands on the trees, all of a sudden, six dark blue bird Pokemon flew from the trees and flies in the air. These dark blue bird Pokemon are known as Taillows as they spotted Charlie under the sheet. With their minds made up, they quickly flew down and the two of then grabbed the sheet that was on top of Charlie. Confused, Charlie quickly turns around and saw that the Taillows had place the sheet back on the hanger, much to Charlie's surprised. Charlie also sees that the other Taillows are grabbing the sheets from the bucket and hanging them on the other hangers and paddening them out. As that was going on, one of the Taillows landed on Charlie's shoulder as he said: "I'm… I'm amazed that you are willing to help me, when I didn't do anything to help you." As they continue to help them out, the Taillow that was on his shoulder begins to chirp, signaling him that they are ready to help him with more of his work.

As the sun begins to set, Cesar is driving the carriage back home as the others are done with their things. As they crossed the bridge, Alex said: "I wonder if Charlie the lazy has even attempted to start working." "Yeah, it's so obvious that he won't be able to finish in time."Max said. And then Albert said: "Well if Charlie doesn't finish with his chores, then he'll have me to deal with." Back at the mansion, the Taillows has finished with the sheets and are now helping Charlie with cleaning the mansion. As he sweeps the remaining dust off the floor, with Zeus helping Charlie by skating on the floor with the brushes on each paw. As Zeus is skating on the floor, he was distracted by one of the Taillows riding on the brushes that's sliding down the stair railings. Charlie turned around and said: "Watch out, Zeus!" As he saw that Zeus was sliding towards the bucket that's full of water. Though it was too late for Zeus, as he bumps into the bucket and spills water all over the floor. Although it means that Charlie would have more work to do, he can't help but give off a chuckle. Outside, some of the Taillows are grabbing some fresh flowers so that they can place them on the railings. But one of the Taillows spotted the carriage and realize that they're running out of time. So that said Taillow proceeds to fly back to the mansion as fast as possible.

Back inside, Charlie is busy cleaning up the spilled water when the Taillow comes in and started chirping like crazy. Charlie heard the chirps and then realize that they are coming and said: "Oh no. I won't be able to clean it up in time." Seeing this, Zeus decided to use his body and slide on the floor to soak up the water. This manages to clean the floor up as Charlie said: "Thank you, Zeus. Nice work." He then starts to chuckle, but then he suddenly heard Albert's voice saying: "Charlie! When the Duke of the mansion arrives, you should be waiting at the door." This alerts Charlie as he turns to the front door and said: "C-Coming." Then Charlie proceeds to tell Zeus: "Zeus, you're supposed to stay outside, remember." Upon hearing that, Zeus nodded as he ran through the side door, while the flock of Taillows follow him out the door. Once the last of the Taillow went through, Charlie proceeds to close the side door as he sighs in relief. "Ha! I knew he didn't finish his chores!" Max said, causing Charlie to turn around and said: "Yes I have. I just finish it, right now." "Well let's hope that it's spotless, like father said." Max said, while Alex notices the dirt on Charles face and said: "Well, how can you say that when you got dirt on your face." As Albert, Jen and Ruby steps through the lobby to begin their inspection, Charlie said: "I just did the best that I can."

As much as Albert does not want to admit, but he discovers that the lobby is quite spotless. While Alex and Max took a look and were amazed over his work, causing Alex to say: "Whoa… How did you manage to do all of this?" "Yeah… It's so shiny…" Max said in amazement. And Charlie remains silent as he knows that Zeus and the flock of Taillows has helped him with the cleaning. After their investigation, they're sitting in the dining room as the two step-brothers are hungry from all of the practices that they did, while Albert is checking the chair for any dust. He then said: "I must admit, you did an excellent job with the cleaning…" He then turned to Charlie and said: "But if I do recall, I asked you to clean the house and prep for supper, Charlie." "Yeah, I'm starving!" Alex said as he gripped his stomach. Realizing that he forgot to get the pot on, Charlie said: "O-Okay then… I'll prep up some of mom's favourite stew." "I don't care what it is. Just hurry and make some, already!" Max said as he starves for something to eat, and Charlie knew that he doesn't have much time.

In the kitchen, Charlie is busy peeling the potato skins with a knife, while having a lot more vegetables to peel and cut. _What am I going to do? I know that they're not the patient type… So I don't know if I can get this all done in time…_ Just as he's peeling the potatoes, he suddenly heard a flock of wings flapping in the room. When he looked up, he saw that there was a flock of Taillows has entered the kitchen. As Charlie is surprised by this, two of the Taillows grab some potatoes. And as two of the Taillows are holding on to the potatoes, two of the other Taillows uses their sharp wings to cut the skin off of the potatoes. And with the potatoes peeled, the Taillows that are holding onto them have proceeds to drop them on the counter, where the last two Talilows are. And one the counter, the Taillow used the chopper to cut the potato into pieces. And after the Taillow that has the chopper lifts it, the other Taillow move the potato around, allowing the Taillow to use the chopper to cut the potato into more pieces. And the cycle repeats with the Taillows as they help Charlie with the vegetables, causing Charlie to say: "Wow. Thank you. You guys are real helpful."

With the vegetables all peeled and cut, Charlie proceeds to make the stew. And as he is watching the stew and stirring it occasionally, Zeus is helping Charlie by pressing the panel to increase the flames to boil the stew in the pot. As the Taillows stands-by to see if they need his help again, Charlie takes a sniff of the stew, before proceeding to say: "Wow. The stew is coming along real good." "Charlie! Hurry up with the dinner, already!" Max yelled from the dining room. And then Charlie heard Alex yelled: "Yeah! Hurry up! I'm hungry!" "It's almost ready, guys." Charlie said. He then looked at the Taillows and said: "Could you guys add a bit more of salt and pepper?" The Taillows nodded as Charlie went to grab some bowls. Two of the Taillows then proceeds to swoop down and grab some shakers with their beaks. Then the two Taillows proceeds to fly onto the handle of the pot and starts shaking the shakers into the stew. Although they don't know what "A bit more of salt and pepper means", they continue to shake the shakers. But as they shake, the tops of the shakers suddenly came off and all of the salt and pepper fell into the stew, causing the two Taillows to drop the shakers out of panic. As the two saw the spilled content mixing into the stew, Charlie proceeds to grab a label and proceeds to scoop the stew into the bowl, much to the horror of the two Taillows, for Charlie does not know of the spilled salt and pepper.

After managing to fill five bowl's worth of stew, Charlie proceeds to place the bowls in front of Albert, Alex, Max, Jen and Ruby. As Charlie heads to the corner of the dining room, Albert said: "Now… I know that you have spent so much time into making this stew, so I know it will be good. But… Just to make sure, we're going to have a little taste first." Ruby then proceeds to lean down and takes a lick out of the stew… Only for Ruby to suddenly leaned back, before proceeding to stick her head into a jug of water, which has shocked Charlie. Albert and his step-brothers then proceeds to taste the stew, only to give off this disgusted look on their face, as Max said: "Gah… This stew is way too salty!" "This is quite disgusting, Charlie." Albert said, while Alex said: "Yeah, it could burn my mouth off. Did you even tasted this before you served this… This thing to us!" While this has caused Charlie to feel depressed over their hatred over his stew, Max then add salt to his wound by saying: "I should've known that he can't cook. After all, he can't fool our taste." Alex then proceeds to pass his bowl over to Charlie and said: "Here. Why don't you eat this thing. After all, I wouldn't serve this gunk to that mutt of yours." As Charlie grabs the bowl from Alex as he is horrified over what he's about to eat, he looked over and saw a bunch of fierce stares from Albert, Max, Jen and Ruby (After she pulled her head out of the jug) over his expression on what he's about to eat. "Go on. Taste it." Albert said.

Unbeknownst to the group, Cinder quietly teleports besides the wall from the outside and peeks through the window. Upon seeing Charlie about to taste the bad stew, she pulled out her wand and said: "With their intent to make Charlie suffer. I'll shall change this simple mistake into something they won't forget." And with a flick of her wand, the spell is cast as her spell dust fly through the window and into the bowl in Charlie's hand, only for the dust to not only reflect and spreads through the stew, but also splits off into five different dusts. And each of the five dusts proceeds to land into each of the bowls, as well as the pot in the kitchen. When Charlie gained enough courage to take a spoonful of the stew and eat it, he was… Amazed… Like… It's the exact same thing that his father has made. And as the others are waiting for his reaction, Albert said: "So… What do you think?" "I… I have to say that… It's perfect. I've never made anything this good before." Charlie said with confidence, which cause Albert and his step-brothers to be shocked with his reaction as they said: "What?!" As Max tries the stew again, out of curiosity, Alex slapped his forehead and said: "Man… I can't believe that your taste buds are this bad, you consider this slop to be good."

"Actually… He's right. It is pretty good." Max said with a surprised look. Which cause Alex to look at Max with a shocked reaction as he said: "What?! You too?!" Jen then cautionately leans down and gives a stew a lick. And with a satisfied look on her face, proceeds to eat the stew. Seeing Jen eating the stew, Ruby follows suit as she eats the stew as well, causing Alex to turn at the two and said: "Even you two like it?! But I don't understand, it was awful before!" Charlie then look at Albert and said: "Do you like it, father?" And Albert replied with: "Yes. It's quite excellent, Charlie." As Charlie sighs in relief, and Alex now the odd man out, Albert then said: "And with that said. You are now capable of doing all of the chores and cooking all of our meals from now on." And while Charlie is happy to hear how they love his food now, he is now saddened over how he'll have to do all of the work, for now on. And with Alex feeling defeated, he sits down and said: "Well if everybody is enjoying it, now I want some as well." He then looked at Charlie and said: "And you better get me a bowl of stew, before you even attempt to eat your own." Knowing that he can't argue with the others, he said: "Coming right up."

After dinner is finish, Charlie is sitting on his dusted bed with Zeus, as Charlie is feeling a bit starve over not eating anything. And although he only had the bowl of stew Alex gave him, and the family members only have two bowl's worth of stew, he knows that he can't eat it all himself when the others had help him out with the cleaning and prepping for dinner. So he brought both the flock of Taillows and Zeus a bowl of stew. And although they were hesitant on eating before Charlie had his fill, he insisted that they go ahead and eat without him. After all, he stated that without their help, he would have been in a worse situation than before. As the sounds of the Ralts doll singing a lullaby, Charlie then proceeds to stand up from the dusted bed and make his way towards the open window, while Zeus follows him from the bed. He then said: "You know… Today would have been a disaster, if it wasn't for those Taillows and you, Zeus." Zeus then let out an excited bark as he chuckles while petting Zeus in the head. Charlie then looked out at the window to see the nightly stars, when he saw his mother's reflection in the skies as he remembers her words. _You know what they say. Some dreams do come true._ He then leaned out of the window and say: "I hope so, mother. All I have to do, is to believe in myself. I sure do miss you, mother." And the two then spend the rest of the night staring at the stars, with the lullaby playing in the room.


	2. The flowers he saw in his dream

**02: The flowers that he saw in his dreams **

A bright and beautiful sun shines over the patches of grass and trees. Underneath the trees is a dirt pathway, with bits of rays of light going through the trees. Among the dirt path is a little boy running forward with a smile on his face. As it is, today is a special day for the little boy as today is where he gets to meet with his father. When the little boy reaches the end of the dirt pathway, he enters into a valley of white wildflowers. Seeing the flowers that he loves is one thing, but then he saw his father standing in the middle of the field. The father then turns around and saw his little boy, then proceeds to spread his arms apart while going on his knee as the little boy starts running up to him while shouting: "Daddy!" When the little boy gets close to his father, he excitedly jumps onto his chest as the two hugs each other. Though the little boy's momentum has caused the father to fall backwards and landing on the flower's patch as the two started laughing out of an enjoyable bonding.

They then spend time together rolling down hills, getting piggyback rides, imagining that they're flying in the skies and sliding down the flowery hill. Yup, it's like these two are having the most fun they have together. After that, the two are relaxing on the hill of flowers as they stare at the sky. Wanting to let his father know about how much fun he is having, the little kid look towards his father… Only to discover that he suddenly disappeared. Worried, the little kid sits up as he said: "Daddy?" "Charlie…" said an ominous, disturbing voice. This scares the little kid as he stands up from the ground and quickly looks around, looking for any sign that said that. "Charlie…" Said the ominous, disturbing voice again. This causes the little kid to shout: "W-Who's there?!" "Charlie…!" Said the ominous voice yet again, as the ground suddenly starts to shake violently, causing the little kid to go onto his knees out of fear. But what he doesn't realize, is that a giant hand broke through the ground and grabbed the little boy. "Charlie!" Said the voice from under the broken ground, as it rises to reveal a horrifying monster with grotesque features as it raised the scared kid into the air, while the little kid continues to cry out of fear.

"CHARLIE!" Said a very irate Albert as Charlie woke up from a dream turning into a nightmare that he had. Just as Charlie is trying to catch his breath, Albert yelled out: "Charlie! How long are you planning to sleep, when you have chores to do!" Hearing that has brought Charlie a lot of bad memories from yesterday. From being forced to live in the attic, to stripping him of his suit and forcing him to do all of their chores. And as much as he wants to say something that goes against Albert, he knows that there isn't much that he can do. So he said: "I-I'm sorry, father. I'll be right down." And as he gets out of his bed, he can feel his body is getting sore from sleeping on an uncomfortable bed. And it doesn't help that the room is still a dusty mess from yesterday, but he doesn't have time to go and clean the room up. After leaving his room, he walked down the stairs…

...only to run into Albert, who is not in a good mood as he said: "About time you woke up. I didn't realize that I have brought in a very lazy son." Knowing that he doesn't have a good reason, he bowed his head and said: "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm trying to get used to the new room…" "And…?" Albert said as he wants Charlie to can it with the "excuses" and get to the point. Charlie then said: "And, I promise that I won't let that happen again…" Even though Albert wants to punish Charlie, he knows that this is his second day. "Very well, you're forgiven. But if you want to stay in this household, then you will have to take your work more seriously." Albert said as Charlie tries to say: "But…" "No buts." Albert said as he interrupts him. He then said: "As of right now, my sons are currently preparing themselves for the contest today. I've told you this yesterday, remember. I've told you to get up early and help get them dressed. But no, you chose today to stay in and laze around. Now I'm giving you one last chance, Charlie. Now hurry up and make us some breakfast." Charlie then bows his head and said: "Yes father. I'll get it done right away." Charlie then walks pass Albert as he heads to the kitchen. Outside, Cinder was watching the incident unfolding in front of her. She then said: "Poor Charlie… He gets treated poorly by his step-father. Yet his step-father is more than willing to spoil his two step-sons for their gain. No one else should be treated like that."

In the kitchen, Charlie is almost done cooking the final batch of their breakfast meals for Albert, his two sons and Ruby and Jen. And he knows that he cannot eat until he manages to serve the family members their breakfast first. And although he wonders if he should get up earlier, he knows that Albert won't let him cook his breakfast until they get fed first. And while the Taillows did help him out with the dinner yesterday, he knows that he can't rely on them for everything. As he increases the flames on the fireplace, he turned and saw some wildflowers out on the field. And then he remembers that it's in fact, the same flowers that he saw in his dreams. This causes Charlie to say: "Oh. Those are the flowers that I saw in my dream." And although he's just about to plate their meals, he knows that he has enough time to get some flowers for decoration.

In the dining room, the family, excluding Charlie, are enjoying their breakfast as some cut white wildflowers bloom in the vase that Charlie has placed. As they are eating, Max said: "You know… I wonder who's going to be the prince and princess of the flower festival." "I don't know who will win in the princess contest… But it's pretty obvious who's going to win the prince's contest." Alex said with confidence, while Max replied with: "I know. But I'm still having a hard time believing it." Alex then looks at Max with a confused look, while Max said: "Man… I don't know which one I should do first. Write an acceptance speech, or practice my lines for the new princess." And Alex replied with: "I don't know why you would want to do that when I'm the one that's going to be prince."

At that point, Jen notices the flowers in the vase as she moves closer towards it as she proceeds to examine it. While Max stares at Alex and said: "Huh?! But didn't you just say that it was obvious on who will win the contest? Didn't you meant me?" "Of course not!" Alex replied. Just as the two brothers are about to face off, Albert cut both of them off by saying: "Knock it off, you two. Each of you is equally as charming as the other. But mind you, only one of you will win the contest. So it's your utmost importance to win that contest. But what am I worried about, you two are obviously going to win the contest, even if they put bags over your head." Albert and his sons start to laugh over their good chances of winning that they didn't notice that Jen got close to the flowers and sniff it. But then Jen suddenly sneezed and knocked the vase over, and splashing water all over Alex and Max's suits.

"Hey!" Max said as he got his suit wet, causing both of them to get up from their seats as Alex also said: "What the?!" Albert then turns to Jen and said: "Jen…" This causes Jen to get off of the table as Charlie said: "Oh no." As he rushes over to his two step-brothers and attempts to dry their suits. "Look at this, my suits ruined!" Alex said as he is getting mad over his wetsuit, while Max angrily said: "We'll never get these suits dried up before the contest can start." As Charlie continues to dry their suits, Albert notices the flowers that were knocked over on the table. He then picks up the flowers and said: "Why did you bring these weeds into our table? They're clearly awful." As Charlie turns to Albert over Charlie's taste in flowers, Albert walks over to the windows and opens it, before proceeding to throw away the knocked over flowers on the ground.

"Father, why are you throwing those away?" Charlie said as he was shocked over how Albert cares little about those flowers. Albert then turns around and said: "Those are hardly the types of flowers that should be seen in a nobleman's table. Besides, the presence of my sons alone is enough to brighten up the room without the need for flowers." As the brothers chuckle over the praise from his father, Albert then said: "Of course when I said my sons, that doesn't include you, Charlie." This causes Charlie to feel depressed that his father will not acknowledge him as a son. And although Albert is Charlie's step-father, he knows that he can't dismiss him as a father. Albert then said: "Okay then. You two should go and get a quick change in your suits." But Alex said: "No way. That will take too long." And Max then said: "We'll just have to be late then. There's no way that we will go out in public like this." The two brothers then leave the dining room as Albert said: "Very well. We'll be fashionably late then. But who will clean up your suits while we're away?"

Charlie then got up and looked at Albert and said: "Is it possible that I can come to the flower festival with you, father?" Albert then takes a couple of steps away from Charlie, before saying: "You know… Before this unfortunate incident, I was going to let you come and watch it with us. But since this mess is clearly your fault, it should make sense that you stay here and clean their suits." This causes Charlie to defend himself by saying: "But Jen was the one that knocked the vase over." But Albert dismisses his defence by saying: "No buts. My decision is final. Get those suits cleaned, then make sure that you get lunch ready for us when we return after one of my sons win the contest." "Father…" Charlie said, but Alber stared fiercely into Charlie's eyes and said: "Do I made myself clear?" At this point, Charlie knows that he can't win. So he said: "Yes." "Now… Don't let me down again, young man." Albert said as Charlie only replied with: "I… Won't…"

After the two brothers got a fresh clean set of suits, the five enter the carriage as Cesar is in the driver's position to drive the carriage. Cesar then said: "Giddyup." Letting the two Zebstrikas to start moving and pulls the carriage forward. And while the carriage drives off, Charlie bows his head as he sees the family off without him. Once the carriage is out of Charlie's view, he proceeds to grab the wet suits that were caused by Jen. After grabbing the suits, he walks back out with the suits in his hand as he proceeds to head towards the wooden buckets. Along the way, he notices the tossed flowers on the ground. And as much as he wants to pick them up, he knows that his father will find this out. So he just walks past them. When he walks up to the wooden bucket, he places the suits in the bucket and picks up the bucket itself, when Zeus notices Charlie and runs up to him. As Zeus goes on Charlie's knee, Charlie looks at Zeus and said: "Hey Zeus."

After Charlie puts the suits into a barrel full of soapy water, he starts to scrub the stains off of the suit, while Zeus watches him. As Charlie is scrubbing, he said: "Say, Zeus. I just had a wonderful dream." While this got Zeus excited, Charlie then said: "I dream about being in a field full of white wildflowers. They were quite beautiful and I couldn't find the words to describe it. But then this scary creature came in and turn my dream into a nightmare." Charlie then continues to clean the suits as he then said: "Though it would be nice to go to the flower festival, I know that I need to get these suits cleaned." "You shouldn't have to do that, boy." Said a mysterious voice, which catches Charlie off guard as he said: "Huh?" As he looked around for the source of the voice, he heard some Taillows chirps in the sky as he looks up. Upon looking up, he saw the Taillows that help him out from yesterday, but also a larger bird with the same colours also appears in the skies. "You shouldn't have to deal with their abuse when you should be following your dreams." Said the large bird Pokemon. The Taillows then proceeds to land on the hanging wires, while the large bird Pokemon landed in front of both Charlie and Zeus, as Charlie realized that it was a Swellow that was speaking to him.

This surprises Charlie as he said: "Wait! You can talk?!" The Swellow replied with: "Of course. It was through the art of words that I was able to understand the language of others. It's helpful when meeting someone who has given gifts to my sons and daughters for helping you out." Feeling modest, Charlie said: "O-Oh… It was nothing…" The Swellow caught on to his modesty as the Swellow then said: "And modest to boot. But I did hear about the lovely dream you have." "You did?" Charlie said and the Swellow replied: "Yes. Did you know that if you dream of a field full of white wildflowers, good fortune will come to you?" Charlie then said: "Wow… I never knew that…" Then Charlie said: "But I don't know what good fortune would come to me." The Swellow then said: "Well I know one thing's for sure. If you stay here, you would never be able to find out if your dream came true or not. It's a sign that you should go to the flower festival." "Really? You think that I should go?" Charlie said as he is surprised by the Swellow's statement. But then he said: "But I have to do a lot of chores today and my father won't let me go to the festival." But the Swellow said: "Don't you worry about it. I believe that he acts like that to avoid the possibility of you winning over your two brothers. And I'll make sure that my sons and daughters help you with your chores as thanks for your lovely meal yesterday." Hearing how they will be helping him again, Charlie thinks to himself for a moment, then proceeds to say: "Well… It can't hurt… And I suppose I am curious over who will win the contest they have…" Then he confidently said: "Okay then, I'll go."

After Charlie explains the number of chores he has to do to the Swellow, as well as leaving the attic windows and door open for them to get in without any trouble, Charlie proceeds to lock the front doors with the key that he from his father earlier. As he pockets the key in his right pant's pocket, the Swellow glides over to Charlie and landed on the stairway railings and said: "Before you go. My son and daughters have made this for you." And before Charlie could wonder what Swellow meant, a couple of Taillows flew over and dropped a necklace of white wildflowers onto Charlie's shoulders. He is amazed by the Taillows gift as Swellow said: "This will make you look like a true gentleman. With it, you can win the contest that the town is having." But Charlie then said: "Thank you for the compliment and your sons and daughters to give me a lovely gift, but my brothers enter the contest. And if they saw me in the contest, then they'll know that I wasn't at the house like they told me to." The Swellow then said: "I see. Then I hope that good fortune will come to you at the festival." And with that, the Swellow flies back in the air and lets out a series of bird calls, to let the Taillows know to enter the building. Charlie then goes downstairs and looks at Zeus. He then goes on his knees and said: "If the family does come back before I came back, let them know that they're coming. Got it covered?" And Zeus let out an acknowledging bark, letting Charlie know that he got it covered. With his mindset, Charlie proceeds to run towards the bridge as he heads to the festival.

As he is running towards the town with an excited look on his face. Once he arrives at the bridge, he saw the stream that was going under the bridge. He even sees a few Magicarp Pokemon going under the bridge, which amazed him. But when he turned his focus away from the stream, he notices a farmer trying to repair a broken wheel on a wagon, while his wife and his small boy wait for the wagon to be repaired. Wanting to help them out, Charlie goes up to them and said: "Hey there. Mind if I help out?" The farmer and his family look at him with confusion, before looking at each other. After Charlie helps the family out with the wagon, they offer him a ride to town. And as much as Charlie wants to refuse their offer, he knows that going on foot will take too long. And thus Charlie ends up riding with the family as he sits at the back of the wagon with their son, while the couple is at the front as they use the Mudsdales to drive the wagon. While sitting on the wagon, Charlie looks up and sees the beautiful sky. But then he heard a carriage moving as he looked and saw a noble family in the carriage. But before he has time to think or say something, he notices a group of people setting up stands and marketplaces outside. Just as he looks to his other side to see more stands outside, he heard their son getting up and said: "Wow! Look at that!" Curious, Charlie looks behind him and saw that they were approaching the city gates. He then smiles as they enter the town.

The sounds of the fireworks went off in the clear skies as the townspeople of Espérer are celebrating the second day of the Flower Festival. Among the festive people, lies a group of people surrounding the arena that has been set up for the main event. And inside the arena, lies a few judges and a group of bachelors and bachelorettes as they get ready for the contest that's about to start. As the bachelorettes are already on stage, the bachelors are still preparing themselves for the contest. Among the bachelors are Albert and his two sons that are entering the contest, Alex and Max. As the two brothers hurry to get ready, Albert said: "It's best that you hurry up, you two. The contest isn't going to stall any longer." "Father. I wonder if I should have worn black leggings?" Alex said as he looks at his legs from underneath his suit pants, while Max is using his mirror to look at his hair, while he combs it. And Albert replied: "No, Alex. It will make your look blurry to the others. Besides, the ones that you are wearing is absolutely perfect without them." Then the nervous Max said: "Father, I don't know if I can straighten my hair enough. I keep getting nervous over it." "Just stay calm, take a breather and do it slowly, Max. I'm sure that it will come naturally." Albert said as he walks over to Alex and check his suit and see if it's up to his standard.

Unbeknownst to Albert and his sons, the farmer and his family pulled up on the pathway, near the main area, as they drop Charlie off. As he turns around, he removed the white wildflower's necklace and said: "Thanks for the ride." As the family looks behind him, Charlie places the wildflower necklace on the family's son's shoulder and said: "Here. These are for you. It's a way of saying thank you for giving me a ride here." As their son is happy for the gift, Charlie walks up to the side of the wagon and said: "And I would like to give the both of you the best of my wishes." And with a simple nod from both family members, they proceed to move out on the pathway as Charlie wave goodbye to the family, before proceeding to look around. But then he spotted Max through the mirror that he's holding. This causes Charlie to quickly duck under the stands just as Max to barely notices him. As Max looks behind him, Albert finishes examining Alex's suit and said: "Good. Now let's get going now. The contest is about to begin." Albert and Alex then hurry to get on stage while Max looks confused as he said: "Huh… I must have imagined it…" He then quickly turned around and follows his father and his brother. While they were getting on stage, Charlie was crouching on the ground as he sighs over how they didn't caught him yet. "I better be careful from here on out…" Charlie said as he quietly sneaks away from the main square.

The townspeople are enjoying themselves as they watch the performers and their acts. While that's going on, Charlie is walking through the town's streets as he wants to look around before the contest starts. As he looks around, he saw the decorations as he said: "Wow… It's still as beautiful as I-" But then he felt his arm being grabbed, causing him to look at the direction. And saw a Pokemon with a bunch of white flowers around it, causing him to know that she is a Florges. As it turns out, she wanted to get his attention so that he doesn't accidentally walk into her performance. He then looks out and saw a flow of flower petals flying through the skies as he is amazed by their beauty and grace. The petals then flew into a bunch, before bursting and releasing a couple of bird Pokemon in the skies, causing the audience and Charlie to applaud. The Florges then goes up to Charlie and proceed to show him three white wildflowers and said: "Here. These are for you." This surprised Charlie as he said: "Are these for me?" A simple nod from the Florges confirms it as Charlie receives her gift and bows while saying: "Thank you. They're my favourite." But then a came out and said: "Hear ye! Hear ye! The annual Flower Festival Bachelor and Bachelorette contest are about to begin. Please make your way to the main square to show your support." As Charlie knows that the contest is about to begin.

At the main square, the townspeople have gathered into the area as they watch the contest in progress. Right now, the bachelorettes are preparing to go first as the townspeople discuss the possibility of the royal family coming over and watching the bachelor event. And among the row of bachelors sitting on the chairs, Albert is sitting behind his sons while his pets Jen and Ruby are sitting next to him. Albert quickly glances over at the other bachelor before whispering to his sons: "As you can see, you already won the contest before you even tried." Alex then cockily said: "Yeah, I don't know where they got those hideous clothing." "Yeah, they have no sense of style, brother." Max said as they have caught the other bachelor's attention. Max then said: "If anything, I feel sorry for the bachelorettes that got stuck with them." As the other Bachelor dismiss their comments, the presenter walks to the center of the stage and said: "Thank you all for coming. I would like to announce the contest is about to begin. I would like to start things off with our lovely bachelorettes."

As the townspeople watch the contest unfold, Charlie made his way to the main square. He then starts looking around the crowd for a place where he can safely watch the contest without getting caught by Albert and his step-brothers. As the presenter announces the bachelorettes, Charlie walks around the crowds. As he searches, he manages to spot a Pokemon with green hair and white skin as well as a red crest, which he recognized as a Gardevoir. But what surprises him is that while other people are enjoying the show, the Gardevoir looks disinterested. And from looking at the Gardevoir's clothing, it looks like high-grade clothing that the royal workers would give out to female workers. I wonder why she is looking disinterested? Is she not having fun at the Flower Festival? He then notices an empty spot near the Gardevoir and walks towards it. I wish I could help her, but I worry that I may get caught by my father and my brothers…

As Charlie gets into position, he sees the clothes that the bachelor and bachelorette are wearing as the bachelorette round is about to end. Wow… Those suits and dresses are beautiful… And soon, one of them will become a true prince. The presenter then said: "And that is the last of our lovely bachelorettes. Our judges will have a hard time determining which of our lovely ladies would win the prize. But now it's time for our bachelor to give their stuff out." As the presenter announces the names of the Bachelor, Alex turns to his father and said: "Father. Are you sure that the king is watching the event?" "Yes. But I also heard that he usually comes to these events in a disguise, so that they don't catch on to his plan on finding the perfect husband for his daughter." Albert said. This causes the two brothers to look around as Max said: "Oh man. That could mean he could be anybody." But then Max looks at his father and said: "But… Wouldn't he be sticking out, even when wearing a disguise?" Albert then said: "That's what I thought… But then I heard rumours that apparently, they have the power to change their shape into someone else. It could be a Pokemon or it could be a human. He could be anything and we wouldn't be the wiser…"

"And for our next bachelor. We have the son of the dutch Lestorm." The presenter said as the audience cheer for his entrance as Albert looks at Alex and said: "You're up next. Don't let me down, my son." "I won't, father." Alex said as he gets up from his seat. As he makes his way to the stage, the presenter said: "This charming young man from our very own county is named Alex." As the crowd cheers for Alex, Charlie realizes this as he quickly ducks down before Alex could spot him. Although this did cause the Gardevoir behind him to look at him curiously. Charlie then made his way towards an another empty spot nearby as Max takes the stage next. After a few minutes, they have gone through the rest of the bachelors as the presenter then said: "And that's the last of our bachelors. Now let us wait patiently for our judges to decide on who will become this year's prince and princess of the flower festival." The crowd cheers as the judges are discussing with each other. Curious over what they are saying, Charlie, tries to get closer to them without getting caught. He manages to get close as he heard the judges talking about which bachelor they should choose, as he believes that they figure out which bachelorette should be crowned princess.

While few of the judges are talking about Alex and his suit, while one of the judges said that they shouldn't judge a bachelor based on their clothing and shoes. And while one of the judges prefer Alex, the other judge prefers the other bachelor name, Eric. Back on stage, Albert is staring at the judges while saying: "What's with the debate? Are they deciding on which of my sons should deserve the title? If so, why not give them to both of them?" As the judges continue to discuss over if Alex or Eric should deserve the title, Charlie quietly sneaks away from the crowd. I wonder who will win? I wish I could stay, but I must get going or I'll never make it home in time. As he walks backwards, he accidentally bumped into someone. As he quickly turns around, he saw a couple of drunk men as one of them got soaked from the jug dumping onto him. This causes him to quickly say: "Oh. I'm sorry about that." Before quickly running away, as the two drunk men yelled at him. As Charlie manages to get away, he said: "Man… That was a close one…" But then he saw the horror as Albert and his sons are walking together, realizing that he's running out of time, causing him to run. Oh no… My father…

After knowing that the contest is about to end soon, she gladly walks away from the audience. After all, from the bachelors that she saw, she already knew that she's not interested in them. Now she can spend some time along without having to deal with the stupid contest. Why would her father wanted to go and watch that contest is beyond her, but what she knows is that she won't be around for tomorrow. And although she was curious over the boy that crouch down and sneak away to a different location of the crowd, she just figures that it was something that she isn't interested in. She then proceeds to grab the berry that she has in her pouch as the sounds of someone running can be heard. Just as she was about to place the berry into her mouth, she felt a strong force from behind as she lets go of her pouch and the berry in her hand. She then ended up falling into muddy water on the paving. As she feels disgruntled about being tackled into the muddy waters, she suddenly felt someone's hand lifting her to her knees, while hearing: "I'm so sorry, miss." Just before she could even muster a word, she then saw someone running down the pathway as she then heard some voices saying: "Come on you two. We're going."

She then looks at herself and sees that the clothing that she borrowed has gotten all dirty from the muddy waters. She then knew that her friend is going to be quite mad that she got her friend's dress dirtied. But her mind wasn't focused on that as she recognizes the same boy that was from the crowd. While that was odd to her, since she doesn't pay attention to men, she probably figured that he did it on purpose for some devious purpose. As she searches for her pouch, she discovers the three white wildflowers that are lying on the pavement. Oh… Those are some beautiful flowers. I wonder why anybody would want to throw those away? She then proceeds to pick up wildflowers from the ground… Only for something caught her eye, causing her to realize something important, and how it could be related to the boy that accidentally tackle her to the ground.

In one of the alleyways, Charlie is trying to catch his breath while leaning his hand on the wall. After all, he is feeling guilty for accidentally pushing a girl to the ground when he was trying to run away from his father and his brothers. While he wants to help the poor girl out, he knew that he doesn't have much time as he said: "I better get home before my father does." Just as he turns around and proceeds to head back home, he spots the girl that he knocked over before. In fact, he recognized the girl. It was the Gardevoir that was disinterested in the flower festival's contest. Oh no… She's probably mad that I pushed her to the ground… If she catches me, she'll mouth me off and I'll never be able to get back home in time. But before he could move, she looks and spotted him in the alleyway. Realizing that there could be trouble, he quickly turns around and runs away as he heard her voice saying: "Hey! Please wait!" He quickly exited the alleyway and enter the market area as he runs down the pathway, while the Gardevoir quickly follows him. While he continues to run, he keeps hearing the Gardevoir saying: "Stop! Please wait! I've got to talk to you!"

As he leaves the town, he continues to run away from the Gardevoir that's chasing him. He keeps hearing the Gardevoir saying: "Please wait! I need to talk to you!" As he saw that the sun is starting to set. And for as much as he does not want to admit, but he is starting to feel tired from all that running. This causes the Gardevoir to catch up to him as she said: "Wait! Please stop!" As the Gardevoir places her hand on his shoulder, he gets fed up as he stops and turns around and said: "Look, miss. I'm sorry that I accidentally knock you to the ground. But that-" "These flowers are yours, right?" The Gardevoir said as she interrupts him and shows him the flowers that fell from his pocket. Confused, he said: "Well, yes… But is that the only reason why you chase me-" But before he could finish, she then said: "No. I wanted to give you this key. You must have dropped from the ground after you bumped into me." As she shows him the key, he was shocked as he checks his pocket and saw that what she said is true, when he bumped into her earlier, his key and the flowers fell from his pocket. He then said: "Oh… Yes, I have…" The Gardevoir then smiles as she placed his key into his hand as she then said: "Here. I hope that there are no hard feelings." Curious over her actions, he then said: "Thank you. But I must ask, why didn't you just tell me that you have my key, to begin with?" And the Gardevoir replied: "I couldn't catch my breath. I would normally get guys chasing me, but this is the first time I have to chase a guy."

The Gardevoir starts to giggle as Charlie feels guilty for his earlier actions as he looks down and said: "Still I should be the one to apologize… I knocked you down to some muddy water and I didn't even help you up properly. I'm terribly sorry." The Gardevoir then lifts his head up and said: "Hey. There's no harm done. And I'm sorry that I came across as a scary lady. I'm truly sorry." Charlie then said: "You shouldn't have to apologize… You brought me the only key that I have and you even apologize for my mistake… If anything… I'm feeling guilty about my actions…" As she sees that he's about to cry, she brings out the flowers that he has and said: "Hey, don't cry. Here, you can have your flowers back. They're actually my favourites." Charlie was shocked that a Gardevoir was willing to go far and beyond to make sure that not only return the key that belongs to him, but also show him kindness. It was truly a remarkable moment as they stared at each other's eyes. Charlie starts to smile as he said: "Don't worry. You can keep them. Consider them as an apology gift." As the Gardevoir starts to blush over his kind words, he then said: "I must be going now, it's getting to be pretty late." He then starts to run back home as Gardevoir said: "Wait! Will we be able to see each other again?!" And Charlie replied: "Yes. Maybe." As he continues to run back home, Gardevoir continues to blush as she watches him run, before staring back at her new gift.

Back home, Charlie opens the lock and took a peek inside. Upon seeing that not only is the place clean, but also it appears that nobody is home. Feeling confident that he manages to arrive home first, he enters the house while saying: "Phew… I made it…" But then, a suddenly cleared throat has caught his attention as he turned and saw that Albert and his sons had did in fact, arrived first. Albert then said: "Mind telling me where you have been since I made it pretty clear that you were supposed to be doing your chores?" Charlie already knew that if he tells his father where he has been, he'll be in serious trouble. So he said: "I-I just went into the woods after I did my chores…" But Albert then said: "And what am I supposed to do to you when you keep disobeying my orders. If I didn't need you here, I would have thrown you out of the house immediately." This causes the defeated Charlie to say: "I… I promise you that it won't happen again…" "Oh hold on, father. Don't be so hard on him, he might actually run away and the house would be in ruins without him." Max said. In an effort to change the topic, he said: "By the way, I was wondering if one of you was able to become the Prince of the Flower Festival?"

But this has caused the two brothers to look disgruntled as they look away from each other as Albert then said: "I'm afraid that it didn't happen. For some… Bizarre reason… The title of Prince of the Flower Festival was given away to some nobody named Eric. It's clear that most of the judges have no sense of style on becoming a true prince. And as a result, we will not be coming back to the festival tomorrow." This causes Charlie to cover his mouth to avoid giving him any ideas. While he is sad that he won't be coming back to the festival tomorrow, he is at least happy that Eric won the contest. But then suddenly, Charlie was tossed a suit that Alex was wearing and said: "Here Charlie! I want you to go and fix up my suit. It was obvious that it wasn't short enough that they couldn't have seen my leggings. So I want you to shorten them by tomorrow morning." As Charlie said: "I'll do my best…" Max tosses his suit to Charlie and said: "And I want you to iron my suit by tomorrow morning as well!" As the brothers walk to their rooms, Albert begins to walk away as he then said: "After that, I want you to go and clean the ashes from the fireplace, as well as clean the floors and straighten the cellars. Do you understand that?" Charlie then said: "As you wish…" Albert then stops on the stairway and said: "After that, I want you to clean the windows, brush both Jen and Ruby's fur and shine all of the silver and brass. I believe that's enough for one evening." He then turns around and said: "While it's not much of a punishment, if I did give you any more, then you would have no way of preparing dinner for all of us. So consider yourself lucky that you are able to be in my good graces." He then heads upstairs as Charlie just stands there without saying a single word.

As the night sky shines over their home, Charlie's body is sore from doing all of the chores in a single evening. And it doesn't help that he barely had any leftovers to eat. He slowly goes upstairs as the pain goes through his body, as he knew that he would have to do a lot more tomorrow. But when he opens the door to his room, he was surprised to see that his room… It is not so dusty as usual. In fact, it was safe to say that the Taillows has managed to remove the dust from his room while he was away. As he goes over to his Ralts doll and turns on the lullaby, he heard someone going upstairs. Upon turning around and sitting on his bed, he saw Zeus entering the building with a note in his mouth. Charlie smiles as he said: "Hey Zeus… What's you got there, boy?" Zeus then goes up to his lap and dropped the note into Charlie's hands. This causes Charlie to open the letter and read the content. {Hello, Charlie. If you are reading this, then that must mean you arrived too late and your step-father and his step-sons have arrived home first. My sons and daughters had tried to distract them after your friend has alerted them of their arrival, but I have to pull them away for the sake of their safety. I do hope that they haven't punished you too harshly for it. But I can assure you that your goodwill will always be in our hearts. From your new friend Swellow.}

After reading the note, Charlie knew that he should give them a lovely meal for Swellow and her Taillows. Speaking of meals, he reaches for his pocket and pulled out some bits of dried meat from dinner and said: "Here. I brought this for you, Zeus." Zeus then gets excited as he proceeds to eat the dried meat off of Charlie's hands, causing Charlie to laugh as his hand gets wet from Zeus's saliva. After eating the last bit of the dried off of Charlie's hand, Charlie proceeds to pet Zeus's body as he then said: "By the way. I met a strange girl while I was at the flower festival…" He then describes the events that happened to him with the Gardevoir, including her kind gestures. He then said: "I know that I should be mad that she caused me to be late, but I'm actually fine. Cause, after all, tomorrow is a new day. Isn't that right Zeus?" Zeus then let out a small bark, before proceeding to go up to Charlie's face and start licking him. Causing Charlie to laugh while saying: "H-Hey… Cut it out…" Outside, the sounds of Charlie laughing up on the third floor as Cinder watches from the ground. She then turns around and starts to walk away as she said: "Don't you worry, Charlie. It appears that good fortune has come to you. It's just that you haven't realized it yet. But one day, you'll know."


	3. The mysterious Gardevoir

**03: The Mysterious Gardevoir**

The castle of Espérer is home to the most respectful kingdom that people worship. And the throne of the castle is home to the two respectful royalty known as King Lionhart the Gallade and Queen Oracle the Gardevoir. For years, they run their kingdom with honour and respect towards the village, while the villagers provide the people with luxurious goods. And within time, a child is born in the kingdom. And in the following years, the village is introduced to the one that will capture the hearts of many men, is a princess named Maria. However, due to their royal duties, the two cannot tend to their daughter's needs. Fortunately for them, they have two advisors that they trust. A dutchess is known as Emily, a Lucario that lives nearby with her only son, Dan the Lucario. And a mentor that Oracle knows since her childhood is none other than Madan Nicole, the Gotheitelle that is mentoring their daughter. While Nicole has been with Oracle for years, she does have a sense of familiarity when it comes to Oracle's daughter.

Nicole is making her way through the halls of the castle as she sees the maids and servants cleaning the halls of the castle. She can tell that they are working hard on ensuring that the castle stays clean. She then walks past them as she makes her way towards the princess's room. She knocks on the door and is waiting for an answer from the princess. When there's no response, she opens the door and peeks inside, only to see that the room is quite dark and that the princess is still asleep in her bed. To some, that would be quite worrisome, but to Nicole, it's just a normal part of her duties to wake the princess up. She then enters the room and said: "Good morning, princess. I hope you're ready to take part in today's lessons." Nicole then walks up to the curtains and opens then to shine rays of sunlight into the room. And when the light shines on the princess's face, she covers her face with her blanket to block the light. Nicole sees this and knows what to do as she walks up to her bed and grabs the corner of the princess's blanket as she then said: "Now now. You know you can't lay around all day. You need to tend to your duties." Nicole then proceeds to yank the blanket away from the princess, causing the princess to get up and yell: "Hey!" As the princess gets flustered while grabbing her pillow, Nicole heads to the door while saying: "Don't mind me, I'll just get these clean for you. After all, a princess deserves to have the nicest of things." Nicole then closes the door just as the princess tosses the pillow at her, causing the pillow to hit the door.

Even though the princess just had a rude awakening from her mentor, she is pretty excited about her fencing lesson. While she has to take part in a lot of classes in the castle, aside from fencing and hunting, she doesn't show that much interest over them since she doesn't find them fun. At the courtyard, both the princess and her instructor are clashing swords with each other as the other students are watching them. Even though it was supposed to be a lesson, the princess managed to match blow to blow from the instructor's rapier. Among those that are watching is a Greninja who is also her best friend, as well as Dutchess Emily, who is observing her sword skills. And then with a flick of her wrist, she manages to disarm the instructor's weapon as it went flying before landing on the ground. As the instructor is shocked over his disarmed, the princess aims her rapier at his instructor and said: "So is that it for today's lesson?" The instructor then replied: "Y-Yes, princess… You have surely improved a lot." The princess then lowers her rapier as her instructor falls on the ground as she said: "And it was all thanks to your lessons, sir. You are a wonderful teacher." The princess then turns to her best friend and tosses her the rapier and said: "So what's next in our lesson, Skarlet?" The Greninja that was called Skarlet, catches the princess's rapier and said: "I believe it's power in politics, Maria." The princess then shows a disinterested look as she then said: "Aw… But that's boring. I rather do something more fun than that."

With some time before her next lesson, she walks down the hallway as she expects her next lesson to be boring. As she makes her way down the hall, she hears a couple of Houndooms growling. Curious, she turns to the source of the sound. And she saw two Houndooms guarding the royal library from the floor below, which she recognized as Emily's guard dogs. Why are Emily's dogs guarding the library? She then goes downstairs to see what's going on, which causes the Houndooms to growl at her. Though the princess does know that they're trying to scare people away, rather then threatens to attack them. So she got close to the two and offers them some berries that she has in her pouch. As the Houndooms quickly lower their guards and eat the berries from her hand, the princess said: "Hey there, you two. Are you guarding the library against forty thieves? Where's your master?" She then looks at the library doors and sees that it's partially open, which gives her a chance to peek inside.

As she peeks inside, she saw that not only is the room dark, but also that Emily is in the room, reading a book that the princess couldn't see from the distance. _I wonder what she's looking for? And why does she have her dogs guard the room?_ Before, the princess doesn't usually have that much interaction with Emily as she figures that she is just another helper that his parents hired. And although the dutchess has her study room to herself, the princess does find it odd that she would read a book in the dark. Just then, Emily felt that somebody was watching her as she quickly turned around and said: "Who's there?!" After hearing no response, she puts away the book she had and goes to the doors. When she exits the library and look around, she saw that there was nobody around. Feeling that it was just her imagination and that she should hurry on, she proceeds to walk away from the library while saying: "Come on, you two." Signalling her Houndooms to follow her. Nearby, the princess manages to hide behind one of the pillars in the hallway as she is starting to get suspicious of Emily. I_ have to find out what's she up to._

At the entrance to the throne room, two guards are guarding the doors as a servant is walking up to the doors with the king and queen's tea set prepared. "Is that tray meant for his majesty?" Emily said as she walks up to the servant, after bringing her dogs back to the study room. The servant replied: "Yes, your dutchess." Emily then said: "Give it to me. I'll take it to their room, myself." Inside the throne room, Nicole has been filling in on the details the princess has been doing to the King and Queen when Emily enters the room with a tray in her hands. "Your majesty. Allow me to say that you are the perfect definition of health. May I be the honour of serving you your tea?" As Nicole turns around and sees Emily, Lionhart nodded his head as he said: "Of course. What a lovely surprised." Emily then walks towards the throne as she then said: "My queen. You look ravishing as usual." And the queen replied: "Oh, I'm flattered." As Emily places the tray on the stand next to the two thrones, she then said: "I'm sorry that I came here without an appointment, but I must discuss something important about your daughter."

"Of course, Dutchess Emily. Madam Nicole has filled us in about our daughter, but we would love to hear your words as well." King Lionhart said. Emily bows her head as she then said: "As you wish, my lord. It seems that your daughter is doing extranordally well when it comes to her fencing and hunting classes. But I'm afraid that when it comes to her other classes, she shows little to no interest in them." As one of the maids prepare the tea for the king and queen, Queen Oracle said: "Yes, indeed. Our tutors have brought it to our attention countless times." "Madam Nicole says that our daughter wants her lessons to be more fun. But we want her to be more responsible." King Lionhart said. Emily then said: "Well, I wouldn't worry about the tutor so much. I'm pretty sure that your daughter is such a bright young girl, as everybody knows. But I do think that her disinterest may lie elsewhere." This caught the King's attention as he leans forward and said: "If you have any ideas on how to make her into a serious student, please let us know." Emily then said: "Perhaps, she needs a bit of an… "motivation…" Like, a nice young man who is willing to marry the princess and settle down." "You mean, find her a fiance?" King Lionhart said and Emily replied: "Yes. It would be the best way for her to understand that she's an heir to her throne and that she must take responsibility for her kingdom." The queen then said: "Of course. I was seventeen when I was married to Lionhart. And our daughter has turned seventeen this year." Emily then said: "My words exactly. I think we should act right away."

"I would advise against that." Nicole finally said as she was waiting patiently for her moment to act. Queen Oracle looks at her with confusion as she said: "What do you mean, Madam Nicole?" Nicole then said: "While Emily's plan on finding your daughter a fiance would motivate her to be serious, we must remember that we need to find the right fiance for her. Otherwise, her future would be in jeopardy." Emily then said: "Of course. I would never risk her future if I made a poor choice, Madam." The king then said: "Still… Both of you made a good point. I would like both of you to come here for a moment." Both Nicole and Emily proceed to go up to the king as he leans in and whispered: "I want both of you to go out and find some good candidates for my daughter's hand. But be discreet, I cannot let our daughter know of this plan." After hearing what he has to say, the two take a couple of steps back and bow gracefully to the king as they said: "Of course. Your wish is our command."

Elsewhere, a class is currently in progress over at the castle's private classroom. Inside, the princess is bored out of her mind while her tutor, Khan the Alakazan, is teaching her and Skarlet a lesson on treating their powers responsibly as a queen. Feeling bored, the princess looks over at Skarlet, who was busy with the lesson and decided to mess around with her. So she rolled up her paper before turning to Skarlet and whispered: "I challenge you to a duel, Skarlet." The princess then proceeds to poke Skarlet in the arm with the rolled-up papers as Skarlet said: "Not now, Maria…" But the princess continues to poke at Skarlet with the rolled-up papers… Only to get hit in the head by a chalk. Causing her to drop the papers and rub her head as Khan said: "Girls… I must ask that you don't mess around during your lesson. That behaviour is not appropriate for a queen. When your mother was your age, she was a more serious student." Khan then turns around and said: "In fact, she would often come to my studies during the coldest of nights, just so she can learn more about her duties, as well as the world around her. She is quite a brilliant student." But when Khan turns around again, he saw that both the princess and Scarlet have vanished from the room. This causes Khan to say: "Oh… Where did they run off to, this time…"

Outside the courtyard, the princess is busy changing into her civilian clothing as she said: "Skarlet, I need your help." "Again? But this is the second time you run off, this week." Skarlet said as she waits for the princess to change. After all, she is the one that handed the princess her clothing so she can go out to town without getting caught. Although it was odd that the princess was going out again since they agree that she'll run off once per week. But the princess then said: "Hush. No one must know that I run off to town." "Well, can't I least come with you? What if somebody recognizes you and kidnapped you for a large ransom?" Skarlet said as she is worried about the princess's safety. But the princess finishes changing into her clothing as she then said: "Don't worry, Skarlet. Nobody will recognize me." The princess then proceeds to mess around with her hair to give it more of a civilian look then runs off while saying: "I'll see you later, Skarlet. I'll bring you something nice." As Skarlet sees her off, she said: "If the king and queen find out about this, we'll be in serious trouble…" Skarlet is truly worried about the princess's safety since they have been friends for a long time. And if the king were to find out about her involvement with the princess running off to town, she'll face some serious punishment.

Over at the mansion, Albert and his sons are preparing to go out and do some shopping. Though it's mostly just to get Alex and Max a new set of clothing for them. Although they do have some, they needed to be on top of everything if Albert has any chance of getting either of his two sons married to royalty. With Cesar ready to bring them to the village, they are currently waiting for Charlie as Max yells out: "Charlie! Hurry up! We should've been there by now!" Alex then said: "Father, would you get me a suit that makes me look like an older gentleman, like the ones at the royal court?" "Oh, and can you get me one of those suits that have lots of padding and jewelry?" Max said as Alex then said: "Well in that case. I would also like to have a tophat with a fancy feather and a rose to boot." "And I want a top hat to match with my suit, exactly." Max said. Getting fed up with Alex and Max's pestering and Charlie not showing up, Albert said: "Alright. Alright, you two. I'll get you two whatever you desire. Just stop pestering me." He then turns to Cesar and said: "Cesar, I want you to go and find that boy. If he keeps making us wait, the stores will be closed and we won't be able to do any shopping done." Cesar quickly bows his head as he said: "Of course, sir. I'll go find him, right away."

In the kitchen, Charlie is busy with the dishes that his step-father orders him to do. And even though he didn't get to take part in the final days of the flower festival yesterday, he at least is excited to go on a shopping trip with his step-father and his step-brothers. Unbeknownst to Charlie though, Jen and Ruby are ready to cause some havoc for Charlie as they spotted a stack of plates on the counter. "Phew… Almost done…" Charlie said as he places the clean plate on top of the stacks of plates. Zeus then proceeds to enter the kitchen as Charlie grabs the last plate as he said: "There… This is the last one." But just as Charlie places the last plate on the stack of plates, Jen and Ruby made their move as they both pounce on the stack of plates. This causes the plates to fall forward towards the ground, just as Charlie realizes that the plates are about to hit the ground. Jen and Ruby then proceed to land on the ground as they wait to hear the plates crashing and breaking on the ground, then Albert coming in and blaming Charlie for the mess. But instead, they heard Charlie saying: "Phew… Thanks, Zeus. That was a close one." Confused, Jen and Ruby look over…

And saw that Zeus has managed to catch the plates, using the apron Charlie has for cleaning dishes and thus, ruining Jen and Ruby's plan. This causes the two cat Pokemon to get angry and starts to chase Zeus, just as Charlie grabbed the plates from the apron. As Zeus spots the two and quickly runs away, Charlie places the plates back on the counter as he sees the two and said: "Jen. Ruby. Cut it out you bad cats." Jen and Ruby continue to chase Zeus throughout the kitchen until they cornered Zeus to the corner. But before they could do anything, Charlie grabbed a broom nearby and said: "That's enough you two. I want both of you to get out of the kitchen, now." This causes the two cat Pokemon to look and hiss at Charlie, before proceeding to run out of the kitchen as Charlie chases the two while saying: "And stay out, you trouble makers!" He was about to chase them out when he saw Cesar entering the kitchen. He lowers the broom as Cesar said: "Charlie. Your father and brothers are currently waiting for you to go to town." Charlie places the broom next to the wall and said: "I'll be right there. I just need a few minutes to change out of these messy clothing." As Charlie takes off the apron, Cesar said: "Oh, do not worry. Even in your house dress, you are still the most charming boy that I have the honour of serving." Feeling a bit embarrassed, Charlie rubbed the back of his head as he said: "Oh… You would probably say that to a lot of people." Although in reality, Cesar truly means what he said.

With the carriage ready and Albert and his sons and his pets inside, Charlie locked their house before proceeding to run to the carriage and said: "Sorry that I'm late father." Albert then looks at Charlie and said: "That's all right, Charlie. Although that does mean that we won't have any time to go to any cheaper stores for you. Still, we must hurry so hurry on in." Although Charlie was a bit sad that they won't get anything for him, at least he is getting to spend some time with his family, so he nodded as he opens the carriage door. "Hold on, father. Are you seriously letting him join us? Look at him. He's degrading. He'll make us look like we're a poor family." Alex said as he objects, while Max said: "Yeah. There's no way I'm going anywhere with him." "Hold on, I didn't get a chance to change my clothes." Charlie said as he tries to defend himself, though Albert then said: "I don't know… What do you think, boys?" Both Alex and Max looked at each other, before nodding and looking at his father as they both said: "We're leaving him here!" Albert then closes his eyes as he said: "I see… So what you're saying is… You two are willing to carry the packages yourself. Right?" This shocks both Alex and Max as they look at each other again before they remain silent. Their silence confirms their answer as Albert then said: "Then it's decided. Charlie, you're coming with us. But I'm afraid that there's no more room for you. So sit next to Cesar." Charlie notices a clearly empty spot in the carriage as he tries to say: "But… I can see-" But suddenly, both Jen and Ruby quickly hopped onto the empty space and hog it from Charlie as an act of revenge for their failed plan.

Albert then said: "Well hurry up then, we've already wasted too much time already." Hearing that and feeling defeated, Charlie closes the carriage's door before proceeding to go and sit at the front, next to Cesar. As Cesar is driving the carriage, Charlie is looking down and feeling depressed as he learns of Albert's true motive for brining Charlie along on the shopping trip. Seeing how depressed Charlie is, Cesar decides to pass the reins over to Charlie as Charlie looks at the reins with a curious look. Inside the carriage, Alex and Max are sitting a little too close to each other as Alex elbowed Max while saying: "Move over! You're hogging my space!" Max retaliates by elbowing back at Alex while saying: "No, you move over! You keep trying to hog my space!" Alex then said: "What are you talking about? I'm slim as any real man. You, on the other hand, kept stuffing yourself with sweets and junk!" Max then looks at his father and said: "Father! Tell him to stop!" But Albert said: "That's enough, you two! Now it's best to hold on, the roads are about to be bumpy." "Bumpy?" Both Alex and Max said before a sudden bump causes the two to bounce out of their seats and landed on his father. As the carriage continues to bump around, Albert said: "What the?!" Meanwhile, Cinder is busy with her painting when she spots a carriage driving much faster than usual. Until she saw that Charlie is driving the carriage, while Cesar is pleading to Charlie that they should slow down. This causes Cinder to say: "It looks like Charlie is learning how to drive a carriage."

In the village, the citizens are going on with their lives after yesterday's flower festival. Among the citizens in the village, Maria is looking around in the marketplace as she searches for something that Skarlet wants. As she searches, she hears someone saying: "I heard the other day that the princess is very particular about her appearance." Curious, Maria looks over and saw a cafe nearby and inside are three gentlemen sitting around a table. As she goes up to the wall of the cafe so she can listen in on their conversation as one of the gentlemen then said: "She even order her maids to clean and brush her dresses, until there's not even a single spec of dust on it." Maria then looks at her sleeve and notices that there is dust on it, though she doesn't mind. Then she heard another gentleman saying: "I heard that the princess would throw away her shoes after only wearing them once." Maria then looks down and saw that the shoes she was wearing are worm out, though like before, she doesn't mind them. She then heard the gentleman saying: "Honestly, what a waste. But she is a princess. She can buy as many shoes as she wants." Hearing enough of them, she proceeds to walk away from the cafe as she laughs to herself over the silly rumours they're spreading. As she continues to walk down the marketplace, she spots an older gentleman with a Persian and a Liepard by his side, as well as two boys that are right behind the older gentleman. Though that doesn't concern her. Just as she walks past them, she also notices another boy carrying a large supply. And although that doesn't concern her as well, she can't help but admit that the boy does look familiar.

Albert and his sons are browsing the marketplace as they got some fancy supplies for them. All the while, Charlie has been carrying their supplies in his arms and while his arms are sore, he can still move around. "Here's the store that I'm talking about, father. That store is guaranteed to make anybody into a suitable prince." Alex said as they point towards the store nearby. While Max said: "Good. I'm looking for a suit with some strong lacing." "You're going to need a lot of laces if you're planning on hiding that stomach of yours." Alex said as Max replied: "Yeah! Well just wait till we try the suits on!" As the two brothers enter the store, Albert and his pets stopped in front of the store as Charlie stops behind him. As they heard both Alex and Max amazed over the quality of the suits, Albert said: "Charlie. Why don't you stay out here with our package." "But I would love to go and look around in the store, father." Albert then looks at Charlie and said: "Why should you. What you're wearing is already perfect for your work. And besides, it's not like you're going to need a suit." Albert and his pets then enter the store and closing the door in front of Charlie. Charlie then watches the family looking and trying on suits. _I'll just wait until mother comes back home. She always gives me a brand new suit and some fancy shoes when she came back. I know that I don't need them, but I do appreciate the gifts that my mother gave me._

Knowing that standing around is going to make his body sore, he decides to browse the nearby stores as he sees a lot of merchandise being displayed on the window. He is amazed by the merchandise when he comes across a flower stand as he sees a bunch of beautiful flowers. "Would you like to buy some lovely flowers, mister?" Said the flower vendor, causing Charlie to look and saw a Pokemon with blue hard scales and long ears, as well as wearing an apron with a flower icon as he recognized her as a Nidoqueen. He shakes his head as he said: "Sorry… But I didn't bring any money with me today." With the flower vendor looking disappointed, she said: "Oh, I see. Then please come again." Just before Charlie could leave, he notices some flowers on the ground. He then looks back at the vendor and said: "Excuse me, miss. But what about the flowers on the ground?" The vendor then looks at the flowers on the ground, before saying: "Oh, those? Those are damage. They won't do me any good, so I'll just throw them away." Charlie then said: "Aw… That's too bad. Those flowers still look. Do you mind if I can have them?" The vendor then nodded as she said: "Sure. Knock yourself out." As she returns to tender with the flowers, Charlie proceeds to kneel and places the package on his knee. He then proceeds to grab the flowers with his free hand, while trying to balance the packages with his other hand.

Maria has managed to find a gift for her friend and has some extra time to kill before returning to the kingdom. As she browses through the market street, she didn't notice that someone is on his knee and is picking something up. Just then, her knee accidentally bumped into his behind. Causing her to trip and stumble, while he ended up dropping his stuff on the ground as he falls to the ground. As she turns around and sees the mess she made, she goes up to him and said: "I'm sorry. I didn't see you on the ground. Here, let me help with those packages." As she offers her hand, he turns around and sees her. At this point, they immediately recognize each other from a couple of days ago, as she said: "Oh. It's you again." And the boy she recognizes said: "Yeah. I remember you. You were the girl that I accidentally bumped into the other day." Maria starts to blush as she said: "Yeah… That's right." She can't help blushing as she hates to admit it, but she knows that he's the most charming boy that she has ever met. She starts to giggles as she said: "You know… This is quite a coincidence for us to meet again." "Only this time, you ran into me." The boy said. Maria proceeds to offer her hand as she said: "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking. Here, tell me where you're going. I can help you out." As the boy starts to blush, he takes her hand as she pulls him up from the ground as he said: "Oh, thank you."

The boy then turns around and picks up the packages that were on the ground as he said: "Oh no… They're going to be wrinkled…" Maria sees the packages and saw that they came from some fancy stores. So she asks: "Are those fancy packages yours?" After picking up the packages, the boy turns around and said: "Why... Yes. Of course." As he proceeds to walk away, Maria said: "Wait, let me at least help you out." The boy then looks at Maria and said: "Oh, that's quite alright. I can handle it from here, thank you." But Maria then said: "Oh, but if we ended up meeting each other again, then that must mean that fate wants us to get acquainted." But the boy then said: "Oh, I don't know about that…" As the boy starts to walk away, Maria said: "Well, could I least help carry some of the packages for you?" And the boy replied: "Oh no, I said that I'm fine. I must get going now." As the boy continues to walk off, what he doesn't see is a barrel in front of him, causing Maria to say: "Lookout." But it was too late, as the boy trips on the barrel and lands on the ground, while the packages fall out of his hand. As he slowly gets up from the ground and feeling the pain yet again, Maria goes over to him and said: "Now would you please let me help you?"

Charlie proceeds to carry the packages back to the store, where he is supposed to wait. Although it is lighter than usual since the Gardevoir that he met a couple of days ago and the same one that bumped into him earlier is carrying some of the packages for him. Although he doesn't want to let anybody help him, he knows he can't help but admit that the Gardevoir is actually quite beautiful. "Pardon me for my curiosity… But do you live in the village?" The Gardevoir asked as Charlie replied: "No, I don't." The Gardevoir then asks: "Oh? Then how exactly did you get into town, then?" And Charlie replied: "In a carriage, obviously." The Gardevoir then starts to joke around as she said: "Oh… Now it makes sense. Your Duke has sent you on a carriage to bring all of these supplies to him." But Charlie just dismisses it. Even though his father makes him do all of the chores, it's not like he's getting paid for them. So he just said: "No. I'm not working for anybody." Before Gardevoir could say anything, he starts to walk off as she quickly said: "Wait. I didn't mean anything by that." As she tries to catch up to him.

Meanwhile, back in the store. Albert is waiting patiently at one of the chairs while Alex is working on his custom suit. Max, on the other hand, is quite bored and hungry as he lays on the table while saying: "Father… I'm hungry. If I don't get something to eat, I'll faint from starvation." But Albert just said: "That's enough, Max. Just be patient." Alex then looks at Max and said: "Besides, the tailor would have to make a new suit if you keep eating those sweets, Max." This got Max pretty angry as he gets up from the table and said: "You take that back, Alex!" But Albert cuts Max off by saying: "Max. I want you to go and find Charlie so that you can tell him to bring Cesar here and come pick us up. But let me tell you this, Max." Max feels the tremors in his bones as his father stood up and said: "If you decided to go to the sweet shop along the way, then you shall get no supper for tonight. Do I make myself clear, Max?" It's one thing when his brother argues with him over eating sweets, and he would go and eat some sweets just to spite his brother. But when his father said no, he knew that he could not disobey his father.

Back out at the marketplace. Both Charlie and the Gardevoir are sitting on a fountain with the packages by his side. They didn't really speak much to each other while they sit there. And as much as he wants to say something to her, he doesn't know what's the right thing to say to her. Finally, the silence is broken when the Gardevoir looks at Charlie and said: "So… Do you know how to ride on a horse Pokemon?" As Charlie looks at the Gardevoir, she proceeds to stand on top of the fountain's edge and mimics riding on a horse Pokemon as she said: "If you can, I know a great place where we can ride together." Charlie then said: "Oh, I know how to ride a horse Pokemon not too long ago, since I used to ride with my dad." He then proceeds to mimic riding on a carriage as he said: "And recently, I learned how to drive the carriage." The Gardevoir starts to giggle as she said: "Oh my. You're quite talented. Then maybe I should see how you drive the carriage myself."

Nearby, Max is looking for Charlie in the market street. It's bad enough that Charlie left with all of their packages, but also that he can't go to any sweetshops. "Charlie. Where are you? Honestly… Where would he have gone to…" But then he notices Charlie sitting on the fountain and a Gardevoir standing on the fountain. Curious and suspicious, he hides behind a pillar arch and spies on the two. _What is he doing there? And who is that Gardevoir? And why is he talking to that complete stranger? I better listen to them and find out what they know._ Max then heard Charlie saying: "Still… Being on that carriage does bring back some good memories." He then heard the Gardevoir saying: "That's wonderful. But tell me, do you like to hunt?" "Huh?" Max heard coming from Charlie's mouth. Then he heard Gardevoir saying: "From where I live, we like to hunt for some predator Pokemon in the garden." And although Max doesn't see it, but he can imagine that the Gardevoir mimics pointing a rifle in the air before making a gunshot sound.

Back at the fountain, Charlie then said: "Wait? You hunt for Pokemon in your garden?" This shocks Charlie as he doesn't go around hunting for Pokemon, yet a Gardevoir goes out and hunts for Pokemon, even though she's a Pokemon herself. The Gardevoir then said: "Of course." And after she makes another gunshot sound, Charlie looks down and said: "I… Don't really believe in hunting Pokemon. Especially for sport or just to have fun. Poor things…" This confuses the Gardevoir as she said: "Huh? Poor things?" Charlie then said: "Anyway… I know that you're lying. There's no way that you have a garden big enough for any predator pokemon. The only garden that's big enough is over at the castle." As the Gardevoir steps down and looks at the castle, Charlie then said: "You are nothing but a liar, miss." But the Gardevoir quickly turned around and said: "No. I'm telling you the truth, I do live in the castle. But I don't exactly hunt… Let alone touch the rifle." Back at the pillar arch, Max is listening in on their conversation as he said: "No way… That Gardevoir actually lives in the castle?" "Hey, Max! What's taking so long!" Alex said as he was sent to fetch Max, but Max quickly turns around and shush at Alex, causing Alex to look confused.

Back at the fountain. The Gardevoir then said: "You see, only King Lionhart and his hunting party are allowed to go on a hunting trip. And I'm actually one of the maids that's been assigned to the princess's room. I even help provide the princess with her training weapon for their practice bout with her best friend, Skarlet." "Fencing? The princess can actually fence?" Charlie said as he is surprised to hear details about the princess. And the Gardevoir then nodded as she said: "Of course. She's the star student when it comes to fencing, with her best friend only coming in second best. And she would often tell stories about her skills." Amazed with the story of how the princess is capable of fencing and curious about the rumours that's been spreading around in town, he then asks: "By the way, is it true that the princess is very particular about her appearance?" "Oh? You mean the one about how she throws away her shoes after only wearing then once?" The Gardevoir asked. And after Charlie nodded, she proceeds to sit back down while taking off one of her shoes while saying: "Well that's what I thought when I first started working at the princess's room, but boy was I wrong." This confuses Charlie as the Gardevoir then tosses her shoe a few feet away from her as she then said: "I noticed that one of her pairs of shoes was wormed out and I tried to throw them away. But the princess stops me from throwing them out. She then said that if there's a pair that she really likes, she won't stop wearing them until they fall apart on them."

This surprises Charlie again as the Gardevoir proceeds to stand up and walk towards her shoe that she tossed. But then Charlie starts to get skeptical of the Gardevoir's story as he said: "Hold on, are you really sure that it happened? You're trying to lie to me again." But the Gardevoir simply picked up her shoe, before proceeding to say: "Believe me. If you were the one that told me that story, I wouldn't have believed you either. But it is the truth. She is just an ordinary girl, just like the rest of us." She then turns to Charlie and said: "Just the other day, I was cleaning her room when I heard the door open. And when I turn and see who it was, I saw the princess being covered in dirt and mud. And while that shocked me, what really surprised me was the fact that she was actually smiling, despite being covered from dirt and mud from all over." The Gardevoir then puts her shoe back on, before proceeding to mimic a fencing stance as she then said: "And when I tried to clean her dress, she refused and instead tells me about her fencing stories about her and her best friend to me."

This pretty much shocks Charlie's view about the princess. But then he thinks to himself, did that really happened… After all, he heard a lot of people say the same thing about the princess… Yet here's this "maid" from the castle, saying that she's different than what the people are saying. In his mind, that can't be true. And she did lie to him before, so it's possible that she is lying to him again, just to make him look like a fool. In the end, he's fed up with her lies as he grabs the packages and stands up, before saying: "Look, miss. I don't believe you for a moment. Our princess is nothing like that. I have to get going now." As he turns around and proceeds to walk away, he heard the Gardevoir saying: "But it's the truth! Please wait!" Charlie then said: "I can't. My father and my brothers are probably waiting for me to bring the packages to them. I really need to get going now." But then the Gardevoir said: "But we haven't been introduced. Can you at least tell me your name?" But Charlie simply replied: "I'm sorry, miss. But I don't give out my information to those that intend on lying to me. So goodbye, liar." Charlie continues to walk back to the spot as Gardevoir watches him as she felt a bit sad.

Back at the storefront. Max and Alex are back from their unintentional spying mission and told Albert about the "maid" from the castle and being assigned to the princess's room. With Cesar and the carriage ready, they wait until Charlie shows up with the packages. Charlie then walks up to them and said: "I'm sorry that I made you wait, father. I just went and browse at some items outside the store and I must have lost track of time." Albert then said: "You don't have to worry about that. But I must ask, who was that Gardevoir that you were talking to?" Realizing that they were referring to the lying Gardevoir he met earlier, he simply said: "Oh... Just some girl that I met when I was returning from the woods a couple of days ago." "Hm… I see…" Albert said as he opens the carriage's door and let his pets, Jen and Ruby, in. He then said: "Unfortunately, we have come across with more errands on our list. But you shouldn't have to wait for us, so I want you to take these packages back home on foot. And once you do, I want you to make us some dinner for us once we come back." And while this shocks Charlie, Max passes a couple of packages into Charlie's load as Alex then said: "And don't you even think about wrinkling them."

Once they enter the carriage, Cesar proceeds to drive the carriage as Charlie gets left behind. Charlie then sighs and begins his trip back home. Meanwhile, the Gardevoir is walking up the streets when she notices a wagon being driven by a farmer. She then quickly hop on the wagon without the farmer noticing. But nearby, Albert and his sons notice the Gardevoir and said: "Now, Max. Are you certain that this is the Gardevoir that's been assigned to the princess's room?" And Max said: "Of course father. I even heard her saying stuff, like how the princess would wear her shoes until they break and how she smiles despite her dress being dirtied." And Alex then said: "Yeah, I even heard that she's an excellent fencer in the kingdom, while her best friend is the second best." This causes Albert to say: "If what you are saying is true and what that Gardevoir is saying is true. Then that would mean that she would have valuable information about the princess. We could even ask her for details about her, what boys does she prefer. And once you got that information, one of you will use that information to marry the princess. Got it?" "Yes, father." Both Alex and Max said as the carriage continues to follow the wagon.

Back at their house. Zeus is lying on the kitchen floor as he waits for Charlie to return home. Just then, the sound of a tapping window caught his attention as he gets up and turns around… Only to see a familiar face that he hasn't seen in a long time. It was Cinder as she waves to the happy Mightyena. Cinder then enters the kitchen as Zeus runs up to her and jumps on her. Cinder goes on her knees as she lets the happy Zeus licked her face. This brings the giggles out of her as she said: "Hey, Zeus. I see that the others are out in the town, yes?" Zeus then stops licking her face as he lets out an acknowledged bark. Cinder then said: "That's good. Say, do you want to know where Charlie is?" Zeus then let out an excited bark as he hops off of her. Cinder then goes up to a large cauldron filled with water, as she said: "Then let's use this cauldron to see the world from the bird's view and find our friend Charlie if he needs a hand in need." The water begins to ripple as both Cinder and Zeus watches the water, until the water reviews a reflection of Charlie walking with the packages. But then Charlie collapses and dropped the packages on the ground. Realizing that he needs help, Zeus quickly runs out of the kitchen as Cinder said: "It looks like Charlie is going to need all of the help that he can."

Meanwhile. Albert and his sons are watching the wagon from the carriage as they drive near the castle. And while Alex and Max were distracted by the view of the castle for a few seconds, they haven't lost track of the wagon. But to the surprise of the family, they saw that the wagon is moving to the left and away from the castle, causing Max to say: "Wait. The wagon is going the wrong way." While Alex said: "I should've known… That Gardevoir was clearly lying when she said all of that. There's no way that she lives in the castle. Besides, her clothing is dirty and there's no way that the princess-" ''Shush" Albert said as Alex looked at his father with confusion. Albert then said: "Look to your right." He then points to the hill to the right as both Alex and Max looked at the hill that his father pointed. And at that point, the Gardevoir that they were tailing, got up from the ground and proceeds to walk towards the castle walls. As it turns out, while Alex and Max were distracted, Albert saw the Gardevoir hopped out of the wagon and climb up the hill so that she can hide from the farmer that's driving the wagon. Albert then said: "So it looks like she does live at the castle." After signalling Cesar to stop the carriage, the three proceeds to follow the Gardevoir from the distance. They then saw the Gardevoir looking around, before going through a wooden door. Max then said: "Well, what do you know. It looks like she is telling the truth." But Alex dismisses his statement by saying: "So? That doesn't madder. There's a possibility that she works at the stables, or is a maid at a different room." But this causes Albert to quietly say to himself: "I see…"

At the bridge. Charlie's body is getting sore from carrying all of the packages from town. He then collapses on the floor again as he drops the packages again. _Oh… What am I going to do? I won't be able to get back home in time and cook them their dinner… At this rate… I'll end up being punished for it… But… I can't… I can't take another step… My body is sore from carrying all of these packages…_ Just then, he heard a series of barking as it caught Charlie's attention. When he looked ahead, he saw Zeus running towards him. As Zeus caught up to him and starts to snuggle up to him, Charlie said: "Zeus?! How did you… How did you know where to find me, boy?" But Zeus didn't respond as after snuggling up to him, he proceeds to grab the smaller packages from his mouth, causing Charlie to say: "Wait… What are you… Do you want to help me carry the packages?" After hearing a confirmed bark from Zeus, Charlie nodded as he grabs the other larger packages. While they're still heavy, they're now manageable to carry than before. He then stands up and looks at Zeus with the small packages in its mouth and said: "Okay Zeus. Let's hurry home!" They then proceed to run home with the packages at hand.

Meanwhile. The family is in the carriage that Cesar is riding after they have confirmed the Gardevoir's story about her being a maid. This causes Max to say: "Man… I can't believe that we managed to find a maid that's working at the princess's room." But Alex then said: "Hold on. I don't believe that she works in the princess's room. Besides, that maid looks too sloppy." But then Albert said: "Then tell me, Alex. Do you know any maids that goes out to town while wearing their uniform?" Alex then tries to think to himself when Albert then explained: "If the townspeople were to find someone in a maids uniform, they quickly put two and two together and will try and wring out information out of them. So in order to avoid that possibility, they would give them clothing that only a peasant would wear." Alex then said: "Yeah. Which is why there's no way that the Gardevoir is working at the princess's room." But then Albert said: "I'm afraid that you didn't pay attention to what she was wearing, Alex." Alex was getting confused as he then said: "That Gardevoir is wearing a high material clothing that only a noblewoman would wear. Which is something that no other maids should wear. Now tell me, boys. Who would give a noblewoman's clothing to a maid?"

They then think to themselves, before Max proceeds to say: "Oh. It must be a princess. She must be the one that gives that maid the clothing." And Albert then said: "Exactly, Max. This confirms that what she said about the princess is true. And while the others are prancing around with those silly rumours, you two will be practicing your fencing skills and your charms so you one of you can marry the princess. Do I make myself clear?" The two brothers then nodded as Albert then said: "Good." _Still… There's something that I can't get a grasp on… How did that Gardevoir even know who Charlie is? And if he met her when he was returning from the woods, then why was she so far away from the castle? Could Charlie have… No… It can't be. I made sure that we didn't go to the festival yesterday… So them…_ Albert then said: "Cesar. Go faster." As the carriage proceeds to go faster.

Back home. Charlie and Zeus have managed to get inside before his family would show up. As they place the packages on the table in the living room, Charlie said: "Thanks, Zeus. You're a lifesaver." After Zeus let out an excited bark, Charlie goes and lights a candle in the room, before proceeding to say: "I don't think I'll have time to cook up a fancy meal for my family… They're going to be disappointed…" He then continues to light the candles in the hallway and then the dining room. But when he enters the kitchen and lights the candle, he discovers that the pot was boiling in the fireplace. He then said: "Huh? Who was cooking here, while we were away?" When he goes downstairs, he discovers not only are there three sets of plates of steaks with sauce and butter on it, but also a large bowl of beef stew next to it. It even comes with two small bowls of hot stew for both Jen and Ruby. Confused, he looks at Zeus and said: "Zeus? Did you cook all of this?" But Zeus just shakes his head as Charlie then said: "Well? Do you know who did?" And Zeus simply shakes his head before proceeding to bark as Charlie then realize and said: "Right. I should hurry and set the table before they arrived.

Nearby, Cinder was watching Charlie through the window as she giggles to herself. After all, with a mix of her cooking skill and her spells, she was able to whip up a meal for Charlie's family since she knows that he'll be too sore to cook for them. And at that moment, she saw the carriage that is carrying his family. Inside, Albert and his sons and pets enter the dining room. But as they enter, they saw Charlie, as well as the table, prepped for dinner. Charlie then bows his head and said: "Welcome home, father. I hope that all of you are hungry from doing those errands." Both Alex and Max are quickly amazed over the delicious food that's been set on the table. Charlie then said: "Please. Sit down. And allow me to serve you." Upon hearing that, Max proceeds to quickly sit down at one of the chairs and said: "Oh boy. Time to eat." But just as Max was about to reach for one of the utensils, Albert said: "Wait." As he places his hand on Max's hand. Max then said: "But father, I'm starving." Albert then looks at Charlie and said: "I have to say… You actually managed to do exactly as I was told. I'm pleased with you, Charlie." "Thank you, father." Charlie said as he takes in the rare compliment from his father.

Albert then said: "But there's something that I want you to do, Charlie. We're inviting someone over for a meal together. So I want you to go and assist us with it." Charlie then said: "Of course, father. But if I may ask, who are you going to invite?" Albert then said: "Why… That Gardevoir that you were talking to at the fountain." This shocks Charlie as he can't believe that his father would allow him to bring over a liar to have supper with. Albert then said: "I want you to go and find that girl. And once you do, you will invite her for supper." But Charlie then said: "But I can't. We only met each other by accident. And besides… I don't even know her name…" But Alex then said: "Oh? And who do you think you are? Refusing one of father's invitations? You're making it sound like we're ungrateful." And Max then said: "Are you ashamed of us, Charlie?" And Charlie quickly said: "No! That's not true!" Then Albert said: "Then it's decided. Starting tomorrow, I want you to go out and find that girl. And I want you to invite her over to dine. And if you were to fail this task, Charlie. I'll make sure that you'll regret it. Do I make myself clear, Charlie?" It was one thing to try and not give a liar some attention, it was another thing to try and refuse his father. So in the end, he said: "Yes, father." As if it may be, but it looks like Charlie would have to cross path again with the lying Gardevoir.


	4. The Mudsdale

**The Mudsdale**

The sun shines over the mansion as the lands are peaceful… Or it was until a very irate Max yells out: "Charlie! Hurry up with our breakfast!" As it turns out, Albert and his sons are waiting impatiently for their breakfast to be served to them. Eventually, Charlie makes his way to the dining room with a tray full of food and a teapot as he said: "Don't shout. I'm coming." As he sets the tray on the table, Alex said: "About time you showed up. I was starting to believe that you were trying to starve us the whole time. And having me wait for some food is putting me in a rather bad mood." Charlie then places the food next to Alex and Max as he said: "I'm sorry." He then places the basket full of bread on the table as Max then said: "Yeah. Well, I'm hungry. And when I'm hungry, I lose some energy. And when I lose some energy, I get tired. And I need to keep my energy up." "It looks like you been awfully tired a lot." This causes Max to stare at Alex and said: "Huh?! And what's that supposed to mean?!" And Alex simply replied: "Oh, nothing. Maybe you should stop eating sweets or you'll get fat pretty quickly." This causes Max to get off of his seat, look at his brother with anger and said: "You take that back, Alex!" "Or what?" Alex said as he got up from his seat and stared at his brother. Realizing that it could get serious, Charlie said: "You know, if you don't eat. Your food would get cold." But this simply got a response of both brothers by saying: "Stay out of this!"

"That's enough, you two!" Albert said as he slams his fist on the table, causing the two brothers to look scared as they look at his father. Albert then said: "You two boys have the table manners of barbarians. Now go sit back down and eat your food like a proper gentleman." This causes the two brothers to immediately sit back on their seats and said: "Yes sir." They then proceed to eat their breakfast as Charlie places a couple of bowls, full of hot milk, near Jen and Ruby. Albert sees the two brothers eating as he then said: "There. That's much better." Charlie then proceeds to stand up and said: "If you guys don't mind. I would like to get going now." But as he takes a couple of steps towards the kitchen, Albert said: "Hold it, Charlie." Curious, Charlie turns and looks at his father and said: "Is there something else, father?" And Albert simply replied: "Yes. I wanted to know what you are exactly planning to do." Charlie then said: "Oh. Well, you see. After I go and make myself some breakfast, I would go into town and restock our food supply from the market." But then, Albert said: "That won't be happening. It seems that you have already forgotten about our earlier discussion and the promise that you have made last night."

This shocks Charlie as Alex then said: "Charlie would probably forget his own name if he gets the chance." And Max then said: "Come on, don't you remember? You said that you would go out and find the maid that works in the princess's room and then you bring her over for supper." Upon hearing that, Charlie remembers the moment where he ran into the Gardevoir from the flower festival. And while Charlie believes that she lies about being a maid, he was confused as to why the others believed it. But even if it's true or not, it doesn't change the fact that he didn't even ask her for her name. So he said: "W-Well… I-I remember… But… I can't…" "What did you say?!" Albert said as he is getting angry. Feeling the tension, Charlie tries to speak, but Albert cuts him off by saying: "Listen to me, boy. You will not get a single speck of crumb off the dirty streets until you go and find that maid. And if you don't want to starve on the streets, I suggest that you go quickly." But then Charlie tries to defend himself by saying: "But… I don't even know her name…" But Albert just said: "You heard me. Not one crumb!"

In the town of Espérer, the villagers are going on with their usual lives. And among the villagers going on with their usual lives, Charlie is walking down the pathway as he clenches his stomach from not getting his breakfast. But while that's terrible for Charlie, it's also quite troubling for him since he has to go and find the lying Gardevoir again. Oh… What a tight pickle I'm in. Ever since I ran right into that Gardevoir, there has been nothing but trouble. But as he recalls the events from yesterday, he does feel a little bit guilty. Then again… What if she really is a maid from the castle… She could be telling me the truth and I wouldn't give her the time of day. Just as he is thinking about the situation that he is in, he hears his stomach growls loudly as it catches the attention of nearby villagers, putting Charlie in the center of attention. Feeling embarrassed, he starts laughing nervously as he walks backwards before quickly hides in one of the alleyways. Once he sees that the villagers stop looking at him, he proceeds to go and sit on the stairway, before saying: "Oh… I'm so hungry, I could faint. I'll never be able to find that girl and I won't be able to eat again."

As he is feeling depressed, he heard a familiar bark nearby. When he looks at the source of the bark, he finds Zeus in the alleyway with him as Zeus is holding on to a basket with his mouth. Charlie then proceeds to grab the basket from Zeus's mouth and said: "Zeus. What do you got in the basket, boy?" Upon opening the basket, he discovers that there are four loaves of bread in the basket. It looks like Zeus manages to grab some bread from the kitchen and brought them to him. And although his father said that he cannot eat anything until he finds the maid, he knows that he'll more likely to faint if he doesn't eat anything soon. So he grabs one of the loaves of bread from the basket and said: "Thanks, Zeus. Let's have a picnic together before we go and find the Gardevoir." Zeus lets out an excited bark as Charlie places the basket on the ground. The two then begin to eat their bread together.

Once they have their bread and gather their strength back, they proceed to begin their search. They start searching through the town's park as they look around. While they see a lot of noblemen and noblewomen in the park, they haven't spotted the Gardevoir that they're looking for. Just as they were about to give it up, Charlie notices a lady wearing similar clothing as the Gardevoir, as well as having green hair. This causes Charlie to say: "Oh. There's the Gardevoir." Confident that she is the Gardevoir, Charlie runs up to her and places his hand on her shoulder and said: "Hey, miss. I was hoping that-" But just before he could finish, she turns around and quickly reveals to Charlie that she is not only the girl that she didn't met before but also, she's a human and not a Gardevoir. He quickly `lifts his hand as the disgruntled woman turns around and said: "What's the big idea!? Don't go and grab on to some random lady and expect them to listen to you! You've got to learn some manners if you want to talk to a lady!" Charlie then quickly bows his head and said: "I'm truly sorry, miss. I didn't mean to cause you any trouble." The disgruntled woman then looks at him with confusion, before dismissing him as she walks away. Charlie then lifts his head and looks at Zeus with an embarrassed look on his face as he said: "Heh heh… I must have found the wrong woman…"

They then continue their search as they find a statue of a well known general, riding on a Rapidash. Realizing an idea, the two proceed to get on the statue as they'll examine their surrounds and see if they can find the Gardevoir. However, for as much as they look from higher ground, they both could not find the Gardevoir that they are looking for. Realizing that they're not accomplishing anything, they got off of the statue and go look in a different location. In the market area, the two searches through the crowd. But then the crowd started to crowd upon the two. This causes the two to get split up, with Zeus getting left behind while Charlie gets pushed forward as he tries to reach for Zeus from the sea of unexpecting crowd. After managing to get away from the crowd at the marketplace, the two meet up as they continue their search for the Gardevoir.

Unfortunately, even with the two searching through the whole town, they couldn't find the Gardevoir that they're looking for. Feeling defeated, both Charlie and Zeus sits near a shaded tree. Charlie then said: "Oh… What are we going to do… We search the town from top to bottom and still we couldn't find her. If I don't hurry and find her before supper… Then I'll never be able to return home again… And I'll probably starve in the streets..." Just as he was feeling depressed, he suddenly has a realization as he said: "Unless…" Just as Zeus looks at Charlie with confusion, they both soon look at the once place that they haven't searched yet. And that is the castle that houses the princess. This causes Charlie to stand up and said: "Maybe… The Gardevoir was telling the truth when she said that she's the maid that works in the princess's room…" And if that's the case… Then I'll have to go and apologize to her as well as make it up to her…

Meanwhile, back at the house. Albert, Alex and Max are busy setting up a table for when Charlie brings back the maid. Just as they lay out the sheet on the table, Max said: "Father. I know that we're doing all of this work for the maid, but do you really believe that Charlie would bring back the maid?" Albert then said: "Of course, if he ever plans on eating here again. And should he not return here with the maid, then I'll go and deal with him." But then Max said: "Well can he at least set the table up for us, before going off and finding that maid?" And Alex then said: "Yeah. Why should we do all of the heavy liftings, while Charlie goes off and have fun." But Albert simply said: "That's enough, you two. The only reason why we're going through all of this, is that we can ask that maid topics over what type of boys does the princess likes, remember?" And the two brothers sigh as he said: "We remember…"

Back over at the castle. Charlie made it close to the castle walls when he was stopped by the castle's guards from the top of the walls. After Charlie explains the situation that he's in as well as give the guards the info about the maid Gardevoir that he's looking for, one of the guards proceeds to go to the side of the tower while the other guard stands guard as he stares at Charlie. After a while, one of the guards proceeds to walk up to Charlie, as Charlie asked: "Did you find her, sir?" But the guard simply replied: "I'm sorry. But we don't have anybody that matches your description. But basically, only Madam Nicole the Gothitelle is allowed to decide which maid gets to clean the princess's room." Feeling depressed from hearing the guard's news, Charlie said: "I see… Sorry to have wasted your time." Charlie then bows his head as both Charlie and Zeus leaves the castle walls, while the guard goes back inside.

As they walk back home, Charlie said: "I should've known that Gardevoir wasn't the maid that works at the princess's room. She's nothing more than a deceitful liar." It's one thing to be friendly with everybody, it's another thing to deal with someone who lies to him and tries to take advantage of him. He wasn't sure what was the Gardevoir's plan is by lying to him, but he knows that he won't be seeing her again. But in an effort to make Charlie happy, Zeus jumps onto Charlie's back and starts rubbing the side of his neck. This causes Charlie to stop and laugh as he said: "H-Hey... Cut it out, Zeus." After Zeus got off of Charlie's shoulders, Charlie turns around said: "Where you excited when we got close to the castle that has the princess?" And after Zeus lets out an excited bark, Charlie then said: "Yeah… Me too...:" He then proceeds to stand up and fantasize about the princess as he then said: "Think about it, Zeus… With the princess's beautiful skin, her graceful appearance, her kind voice and her wonderful sense of smile. If I can give my life to protect her, I will do it in a heartbeat." Charlie starts to get embarrassed as he said: "Man… I don't know what came over me. But I need to stay calm." Charlie then tries to stay calm. Unfortunately, Charlie starts to get flustered again as he starts imagining about the princess again. Charlie then tries to control himself by slapping his cheeks and said: "What is wrong with me. Why do I keep having these fantasies." Just as Charlie tries to get himself under control, he hears a woman laughing at him. Not sure where it's coming from, Charlie proceeds to look around his surroundings, only to see some leaves falling from the trees.

Upon looking upon where the leaves have fallen, he couldn't believe his eyes. But as fate and luck would have it, Charlie has managed to find the Gardevoir who lied about being a maid. And said Gardevoir is currently lying on her side on the branch while holding onto a leaf in her mouth as Charlie said: "What the? What are you doing up there?" And the Gardevoir simply replied: "Well, to tell you the truth. I came over here to get some peace and quiet. But then you showed up and pretty much made me an audience of your one-man comedy act." As the Gardevoir proceeds to sit up and jump off of the tree branch, Charlie said: "Well if you have any manners, you would have let me know right away, instead of spying on people." After the Gardevoir lands on the ground, she said: "Before you go on about your dream princess or starting your lesson on manners, didn't you say that you were looking for me?" While technically, he is looking for her, she is known to lie to him on multiple occasions. So he said: "No, you're mistaken. I never said such a thing." And the Gardevoir simply asked: "Oh? Then what were you doing at the castle?" This doesn't help Charlie's situation at all as he mumbles: "O-Oh… Y-You see… I… I went to the castle, because…" As he remains silent, the Gardevoir walked closer to him and said: "Come on. You can tell me, you came to the castle to see me." This flusters Charlie as he quickly said: "No, that's not true! I mean… Yes, I did went to the castle… But it wasn't to see you. It's something… Important…" Charlie then remains silent as the Gardevoir stares at him.

In the town. Cinder is getting her art supplies ready for her lessons with the kids near the forest. And although she was supposed to be watching over Charlie, the kids did ask her to teach them on painting and she couldn't say no. As she finishes up with her art supplies, she heard a voice saying: "Where are you taking me, miss. Let me go." She immediately recognizes the voice belonging to Charlie as she looks at her side and saw a Gardevoir pulling Charlie down the pathway as she said: "Just hang tight. I'm taking you over to the statue of honesty." "The statue of honesty?" Charlie said as Cinder gets up and follows the two. At the fountain, the Gardevoir dragged Charlie to the fountain as she then said: "Here we are, the statue of honesty." Charlie then looks at the statue and sees an older gentleman with a book and torch and riding on a Virizion. The Gardevoir then said: "Legends has it that for those that stand in front of the statue, the truth shall always come out." As Charlie asks: "Okay… But why did you bring me here?" The Gardevoir then turns around and said: "You said you went to the castle, but you claim that you didn't came to see me. I find that very hard to believe. Now it's time for you to tell me the truth."

But Charlie dismisses her words by saying: "Pardon me for saying this. But how can I tell you the truth when you keep lying to me. You even lied to me about being a maid that works in the princess's room." But the Gardevoir said: "What are you talking about? It is true." And Charlie then said: "If that's the case, then you wouldn't mind telling me your name then." "You want to know my name?" Gardevoir asked as Charlie's patient is wearing thin. But if the Gardevoir does admit that she was lying to him and was just messing with him for fun, then maybe he would forgive her… And the Gardevoir simply responded with: "Very well. My name is Nicole." At that point, he has had enough with her as Charlie said: "You're not being funny. You are clearly no maid. The guard at the castle has told me that no one has even heard of you. And while the one that decides who gets to clean the princess's room is called Nicole, she is a Gothitelle, not a Gardevoir like you." As the Gardevoir looks confused as she looks at herself, Charlie simply turns around and said: "So goodbye." And he proceeds to walk away angrily as Zeus looks worried as he follows Charlie. And while that's going on, Gardevoir quickly said: "No, please wait-" But she just sees Charlie walking away as she felt defeated. Nearby, Cinder watches the whole event unfold as she said: "I wouldn't have imagined that it would be so hard for these two to get along.

At the bridge, Charlie is returning home with the news about the lies the Gardevoir has made as well as the guard's info about the maid. But as he is about to cross the bridge, he felt a tug on his leg. When he looks behind him, he saw that Zeus is pulling on his pants while giving off a whining voice. Concern, Charlie said: "What's wrong, boy? Are you worried about that Gardevoir?" After Zeus let Charlie go and continues with his whining voice, Charlie said: "Look, Zeus… You shouldn't believe what she said. I mean… At first, I thought that she was a rather nice girl and that we could be great friends… But how can I be friends with a liar." He then proceeds to turn back around and walk back home as he said: "Now I need to go and let my father know…" He then immediately stopped as he said: "Oh no… My father…"_ I forgot that my father believes that the Gardevoir is the maid… If I tell him that she's not, he won't believe me… Or better yet, I'll get punished regardless if I told him the truth or not… I was still upset over that Gardevoir lying to me that I completely forgot about my father's request..._ Charlie then turns around again and said: "If we can hurry, we can find that Gardevoir and hopefully explain our situation to her. Come on." As Zeus let out a confident bark as he gets excited, the two proceed to run back to town. Nearby, Cinder heard his conversation with Zeus as she said: "Oh, what am I going to do? I wish I could go and help him, but I'm so busy and I'm late as it is."

Both Charlie and Zeus rushes over to the Virizion fountain, where they last saw Gardevoir, in a hope that she would still be around. But unfortunately for them, she is nowhere to be found. This worries the two as they resume their search through the town. But for as much as they search through the town, they could not find a single trace of that Gardevoir. After scouring through the town, both Charlie and Zeus ends up in a nearby Mudsdale farm as Zeus helps Charlie by pumping the water while Charlie cleans his face. Once that's done, he proceeds to sit by the wall on the house as a sign of defeat. While he sits there, Cinder walks on the grass way, near the fence, when she spots Charlie as he said: "What am I going to do… We search practically everywhere and we couldn't find her… I feel like I ruined my chances with her… I don't know what to do at this point…" As Charlie glomps his head down, Cinder realizes that he truly needs help as she looks around. She then gets an idea as she spots a female Mudsdale in the field as she lets out her magic wand and said: "Poor Charlie. He feels like he lost his chance when she lies to him. But I'll give him hope by using a look-alike that would soon fool his father." And with a flick of her wrist, a spell is cast as dust particles fly in the air and landed on the female Mudsdale, causing it to transform into a female Gardevoir. This causes said Mudsdale to look confused, while the other Mudsdale runs off in a panic.

Charlie hears the sound of neighing Mudsdales nearby as he looks at the source of the sounds. Upon doing that, he sees the Gardevoir looking confused. But upon closer inspection, he saw that it's the same Gardevoir from the fountain. This causes Charlie to get up and said: "Oh! There she is!" But then he saw a farmer running up to the Gardevoir with a pitchfork as Charlie realized that he needs to save her. But what he doesn't know is that the Gardevoir he saw is actually the female Mudsdale. The farmer goes up to the Gardevoir and said: "Hey! What are you doing in the fields, lady?" The confused Gardevoir looks at the farmer and said: "What are you talking about? Isn't this my home?" She then let out a neighing noise as she shakes her head, which confuses the farmer. But then, Charlie managed to get on the fence and hugs the Gardevoir and said: "Sorry about that, mister. She has a bit of a memory loss. I've been looking all over for her since she last slipped by. I do hope that you can forgive her." As the confused Gardevoir said: "Huh? What are you-" Charlie said: "Come on, you. Let's get you back to the doctor." Charlie then proceeds to drag her over the fence and down the pathway as the farmer looks confused. Nearby, Cinder said: "There we go. She does look like her." But then she remembers something as she said: "Oh dear. I almost forgot. It's almost time for the children's painting lesson." Cinder then proceeds to head off to go teach.

Back at the town, Charlie is dragging the really confused Gardevoir through the streets as he said: "Okay, miss. For as much as I don't trust you with your lies, I do need your help." And the confused Gardevori asks: "Huh? What are you talking about?" And Charlie replied: "I don't know what you did, but you managed to convince my father that you're a maid that works in the princess's room. So all you need to do is to tell them exactly what my father and brothers want to hear, especially with the princess stuff. Got it?" And the confused Gardeevoir simply said: "Something they want to hear? Okay… I guess…" But suddenly, the confused Gardevoir trips and falls on the ground, which causes Charlie to stop and look behind him. As he sees the confused Gardevoir on the ground, he said: "What is it, now?" And the confused Gardevoir replied: "I'm sorry. But I'm not used to walking on two feet before…" This confuses and annoys Charlie as he said: "Huh? You have got to be joking. Now come on, we got to hurry home before it's too late." Charlie then lifts the confused Gardevoir back on her feet, before proceeding to drag the confused Gardevoir. And the confused Gardevoir felt embarrassed as she lets out an another neighing noise, which confuses and annoys Charlie even more.

After much trouble, both Charlie and the confused Gardevoir finally made it back home, where they are greeted by Albert, Alex and Max. Albert then said: "Ah… you have arrived, madam. I am honoured that you have arrived at our noble home." Charlie then looks over as the confused Gardevoir is panting like a horse, with really confuses him as Albert then said: "So-" And the confused Gardevoir quickly said: "Oh. Whatever you say." Realizing that it could go wrong, Charlie quickly stepped in and said: "Hey… Is there anything that I can do for you." And Alex said: "No way. We did everything ourselves, while you were out there, fooling around with the people. In a way, you practically owe us for this." And Max then said: "Yeah. And don't expect us to do your work again. Now hurry up and finishes prepping dinner for us and set the table for us." As Charlie sighs as he will have to deal with more work after dealing with a serious situation, Albert step to his side and said: "Now then if you can please follow us, we would like to begin our supper." This catches the confused Gardevoir's attention as she said: "Oh, um, sure." She then follows Albert and his sons inside as Albert then said: "I figure that it would be more lovely if we can dine in the garden." As they enter the house, Charlie whispers to the confused Gardevoir: "Just do what they say."

At the garden, after Charlie fills Albert in on the info that he wants to know as the family, excluding Charlie, sits at the table. As helps pour a cup of tea for the confused Gardevoir, Albert said: "So tell me. Is it true that your name is Nicole?" "It is?" The confused Gardevoir said, but after looking at Charlie, she then said: "Oh. It is." Albert then said: "Ah, that's good, them. I also heard that you were assigned to take care of the princess's room and how the princess tells you of her stories with her best friend. Is that also true?" After quickly glancing over at Charlie, the confused Gardevoir then said: "Why yes. I even heard tales of how they love to horse around for three years." "Horse around? Really?" Alex said as he starts to blush as well as Max as he said: "You don't mean…" As Charlie sighs as he brings the tea over to the two, the confused Gardevoir then said: "W-Well… It just that... Um… Meih… The two love their Rapidashes…" While this confuses the brothers, Albert starts to laugh as he said: "Oh, I get it. It's a clever joke about the princess being equestrian. You are quite hilarious, miss." He then whispers to his sons: "Quickly note that down." Alex then whispers to Max: "You hear that, write it down quick." And Max grabs the book and a feather pen and whispered back: "Right." As Max writes that down, Charlie sighs in relief. Though this catches Alex's attention as he said: "Hey. Don't just stand there, hurry up with the dinner." And Max also said: "Yeah. All of that work had made us very hungry." Charlie quickly replied: "R-Right. Of course."

In the kitchen, Charlie is preparing the stew in the pot for his family and the confused Gardevoir. Although Charlie wishes that he could stay out a little while longer, just to make sure that the confused Gardevoir doesn't make them angry, he also knows that he'll have to serve them dinner at some point. As he continues to cook the stew, he notices that Zeus is looking concern and is about to run out, but Charlie quickly said: "Hold on, Zeus. I know that you want to go out there and help her, but you could make my family mad and chase you out of the house. We'll just have to wait and hope that she doesn't make them angry…" As Zeus lays down on the ground while giving off a whining sound, Charlie returns to the pot as he prays that things are going well for the confused Gardevoir. Meanwhile, in the park. The children are practicing their painting with Cinder doing some simple pose for them. And although their art is not that good, she knows that their hearts are in it and she is willing to help them out. But then, she has a realization as she said: "Oh dear. I forgot to tell him that the spell runs out in an hour." As she tries to get up, one of the students said: "Hey. Don't move." This causes Cinder to get back to her original position. _I do hope that things are going well for Charlie…_

Back in the garden, the family have been chatting and getting the information from the very confused Gardevoir as she starts to get very nervous from the questions. Max then said: "So tell me. I know that there is a lot of guys that try to win the princess's heart. But is there a type that she prefers?" And the very nervous Gardevoir said: "U-Um… The type she prefers… U-Um… B-Broum…" As the two brothers look confused, Albert said: "Ah. So she has a thing for a gentleman with brown hair. She sure has excellent taste. Wouldn't you agree, my sons?" This signals Max to write that detail down as Alex then said: "By the way. Does she have any pets? Maybe a Persian, or a Liepard?" And the very nervous Gardevoir said: "Oh. Um… Um… M-Mi-Miyeah." This causes the two brothers to smile at the very nervous Gardevoir and said: "Y-Yeah… We also have a Mightyena as a pet…" As Alex nervously laughs and Max writes it down, the very nervous Gardevoir said: "Y-Yeah… She does?" And Max then asks: "Does she have a dish that she loves to eat? Maybe a lovely steak, or a good stew?" And the very nervous Gardevior said: "A… I… Ai ai aiya aiya ayia!" And Max then said: "I see… So the princess's favourite dish is the aiya…" But as he writes that down, Max gets stumped as he whispers to Alex: "Um… What is an aiya, Alex?" And Alex whispers back: "I don't know… Maybe it's a Pokemon dish that we haven't tried?" And Max whispered back: "I guess…" At this point, the very nervous Gardevoir is at her breaking point as she gets up from the table and makes a bunch of neighing noises, which alerts his family as Albert said: "U-Um, miss Nicole. Is there something wrong?" But at that point, the very nervous Gardevoir proceeds to trout away from the group as she rushes into the kitchen while the family looks at her with concern on their faces.

In the kitchen, while Charlie is busy taking care of the dining room, the very panicked Gardevoir rushes in and search around for a way out. She spots the window and tries to exit through it, but Cinder's spell has run out and the very panicked Gardevoir transformed back to a Mudsdale. When the family enters the kitchen to check up on what's wrong with the Gardevoir, they discovered a Mudsdale in the kitchen, causing the family to let out a scream and causing the Mudsdale to let out a neighing noise. While Charlie heard the scream, the family dived under the table as the Mudsdale makes a ruckus in the kitchen. "Father! How did that Mudsdale get into our kitchen?!" Alex said in a panic, while Max panicky said: "Can you do something, father?!" And Albert said: "I don't know, I'm too confused to even think" "Pardon me for asking this, but what are you all doing under the table?" Charlie asks as he enters the kitchen to try and find the source when he saw them under the table. But when the Mudsdale gets close to Charlie, he notices the Mudsdale and said: "W-Wha…" He then lets out a scream, which scares the Mudsdale as Charlie quickly hides under the same table as his family, while the Mudsdale continues to run a rampaged on the kitchen. The rampage is causing the plates and dishes to fall from the counter as well as the pot full of stew to fall from the fire stove. As they see the carnage, Charlie said: "Oh no. The kitchen is becoming a mess…" "Charlie! Do something!" Max said in a panic and Charlie said: "But what can I do about?" At that point, Albert notices a carrot and a pole on the ground from the destruction of the kitchen as Albert gets an idea and said: "Oh, you'll find out soon."

Once Albert sees the Mudsdale stopping in its tracks, Albert proceeds to grab the pole and carrot and tie it on the pole. He then waves the carrot on the pole as he said: "Here, Mudsdale. I got something for you." As the Mudsdale turns around and sees the carrot, Charlie got out from under the table just to see what's going on. But at that point, Albert grabs Charlie and shove the pole down Charlie's pants as Albert said: "Good, the carrot has caught the attention. We'll leave the rest up to you." As Albert quickly ducks back under the table, Charlie was confused as he said: "Huh? What do you-" And when the Mudsdale spots Charlie with the pole behind him, Charlie starts to panic as he flees the kitchen and out of the house while the Mudsdale proceeds to chase after him. After a few minutes later, the family got out from under the table and look outside from the kitchen, before sighing with relief. Max then said: "What happened to Nicole, father?" And Albert said: "I don't know… But I did notice that she was acting weird when we were having that discussion. But for now, you two should go and study the notes we have from the maid, understand?" And both brothers said: "Yes father."

Back at town, with the sun setting. Maria is walking down the street as she reflects on the events that happened yesterday as well as earlier. She can't help but feel sad when the boy hates her for playing around with him. _I don't know if I'll ever see him again… But if I do, I wish I could apologize to him… _"Quick! Get out of the way!" Said a yelling voice. She immediately recognizes the voice belonging to the boy as she turns around and saw the boy running down the street. Although she saw a pole with a carrot tied to it behind the boy being odd, she nonetheless proceeds to run alongside the boy just to see what his situation is. Once she catches up to him, he notices Maria and said: "Huh!? Why are you here!? And why did you run off from my parents!?" This confuses Maria as she said: "What are you talking about!?" And the boy then said: "Nevermind, just look behind you!" And as Maria looks behind her, she immediately recognized what he's talking about as she sees a rampaging Mudsdale right behind him. Knowing the situation, she stops running alongside him as she stands there and waits until the Mudsdale gets close as she jumps on the Mudsdale. While she struggles to get a good grip on the Mudsdale, the boy stopped and turned around as he said: "Hold on! Let me help you!" But Maria said: "Don't worry about me! Just keep running!" And while it looks like he wants to help her, he nodded as he turns back around and continues to run. Maria, on the other hand, continues to struggle as she tries to get on the Mudsdale's back. But with a good shift on her waist, she manages to get on the Mudsdale's back and proceeded to pull on the back of the hair to make the Mudsdale stop on its tracks.

The boy turns around and sees the Mudsdale stopped in its tracks and Maria getting off of the Mudsdale. He was amazed over Maria helping someone like him and can't help but walk up to her and said: "Are… Are you okay? Are you hurt?" And Maria said: "Don't worry about me. I'm-" But before she can finish, the boy proceeds to hug Maria and said: "I'm… I'm glad that nothing bad has happened to you." This causes her heart to skip a beat as she blushes and hugs the boy back. Nearby, Cinder watches the events unfold as she said: "Oh dear, it looks like I was late to help him. But at least the two of them have finally patched things up." As the two continued to hug each other, the boy got back to his senses as he breaks the hug as Maria notices this. The boy then said: "Sorry about that… I… I didn't know what came over me… I didn't mean to say those things..." Maria then smiles as she said: "Haven't you notice where we are?" The boy looks confused as he looks around until they notice the statue where Maria first took him. It was in fact, a Virizion statue. And although the boy claims he didn't mean to say those words, Maria knows that what he said came from his heart and is the truth. This causes the boy to say: "Oh. It's the statue that you told me about." And this convinces Maria as she said: "I would like to offer you my apology…"

As the boy looks at him with confusion, Maria said: "I… I was only trying to have a little fun with you. But I have no right to lie to you like that… And you were right. I'm not a maid that lives in the castle or works in the princess's room. And my name is not Nicole… So in order to make it up to you, let me tell you my real name…" Although the citizens know of her as Princess Maria, only a few know of her true name. This causes her to blush as she knew that she's doing the right thing as she then said: "My true name is Maria Flower." This causes the boy to blush as he said: "Maria Flowers… That's a beautiful name…" The boy starts to smile as he said: "You know… Your name is quite similar to Princess Maria." He then gets serious as he said: "I hope that this isn't a lie. Because if this is a lie, then consider this our last moment together." Maria starts to blush as she said: "I can assure you, that is my name." Then the boy crosses his arms and said: "Right… Well, I'm not so certain. So to avoid any confusion with the princess, I'll shall call you Maria the Liar." While this shocks Maria, the boy proceeds to walk as he said: "Now if you excuse me, I must get back home, Maria the Liar." As she sees the boy walks away from her as she worries that she did something wrong, the boy stops as he said: "Oh, I almost forgot." The boy then turns around and said: "My name is Charlie Lestorm. And I can assure you, that is no lie."

This causes Maria to smile as she finally learns his name as Charlie said: "I'll see you around, Maria the Liar." As Charlie walks back home, Maria said: "So that boy is called Charlie. That's a cute name. Though… I do have to wonder… Why does he have that pole and carrot on his back." Charlie then turns around and waves at Maria as he said: "Goodbye!" While Maria waves back at Charlie, having formed a newfound friendship between the two. Nearby, Cinder watches the two say their goodbyes as she knew that it was her time to leave as well. _It's good that these two have managed to become friends. And someday, Charlie will know that her new friend is the princess of the castle. But in the meantime, I hope that Charlie continues to dream of a wonderful dream._


	5. A dream meeting

**A Dream Meeting**

The sun shines over the castle of Espérer as the maids and servants are busy cleaning the castle while Madam Nicole walks through the halls as she checks the progress of their work. Once she sees that they're doing their jobs, she makes her way to the princess's room and knocks on the door. "Come in." Said Princess Maria. Nicole then enters the room as she sees that not only is the princess is awake, but also fully clothed. While some would find this shocking, Nicole knows that she would normally wake herself up only on two separate occasions and one of them involves her parents' birthdays. Nicole then said: "My. It seems that you are already dressed up for a special occasion." And the princess replied: "Of course. Today is sure to have a lovely nice weather for the hunt." The princess then stares at Nicole as she said: "By the way… You weren't planning on waking me up with one of your tricks, are you?" And Nicole replied: "Of course not, your highness. I would have never planned on something to wake you up." And although she said that, she is actually hiding a feather up her sleeve.

At the castle's ground near the entrance, Maria, Scarlet and the four hunters are preparing their supplies, their Rapidashes and their rifles for the upcoming hunting trip. The castle is known for its hunting trips and the hunter's oath, which reads: [FOR THOSE THAT HUNTS WILD POKEMON MUST OFFER THEIR LIVES TO THE WILD]. When they go out on their hunting trips, they would go and hunt predator Pokemon in the forest as a means to help keep the prey Pokemon alive. While the group is preparing for the hunt, the king, queen, Nicole and Emily are watching them from the patio. Emily then said: "Such a lovely morning to go on a hunt. I couldn't have planned it better myself." She then leans in towards the king and queen and whispered: "If you don't mind, I would like to invite my son into this trip. It's the perfect chance for him to meet the princess." And the queen said: "Why, that sounds romantic, Emily." And the King said: "And if they managed to fall in love with each other and get married, then we will know that our princess is responsible." Emily then bows to them and said: "Very well, I will let my son know he's welcome." The queen then turns to Nicole and asks: "And do you have someone that can join in on your trip?" And Nicole replied: "I'm afraid not, your highness. I still need time to find the right man for her." And Emily replied: "Well let's hope that my son doesn't put any pressure in your plan, Madam Nicole."

Back at the castle's ground. They are finishing their preparations as Maria and Scarlet got on their Rapidashes when the two spotted someone walking up to them. It looks like a Lucario with a suit and a feather on the suit as Emily walks up to the Lucario and said: "Princess Maria. Allow me to introduce to my son, Dan. He'll be accompanying us on our trip." Dan then bows his head as he said: "It's an honour to meet you, my princess. I hope that I won't be a burden to you." And Princess Maria said: "On the contrary, it's not often that I get to ride with such company." Scarlet then jokingly said: "It's a good thing that he has nothing resembling her mother, what so ever." This causes both Dan and Emily to laugh as Scarlet nervously said: "Oh… You heard that before…?" And Emily replied: "Please. One would have to be deaf if they haven't heard it before." The princess then said: "Well, if that's all right with everyone. We would like to get going." She then looks over and sees that their hunters are ready as she said to them: "Alright everyone! Let the hunt commence!" And with that said, they proceed to head out and leave the castle's ground as they began their hunting trip while a few minutes later, a carriage that carries Nicole, Emily and Dan, follows them on their hunting trip.

At Charlie's home, Albert and his sons and pets are currently in a carriage as Albert said: "Honestly… That boy is so slow. How long does it take to fill a simple picnic basket?" And Alex then said: "Why do we always have to wait for Charlie?!" And Max said: "Let's just go without him and make him go on foot!" While it may seem unusual for the family to go on a simple picnic trip, in actuality, Albert heard from his reliable source that the princess is going on a hunting trip to a forest that's near his house. He plans on using this trip to get close to the princess and hopefully gives him a chance to show how perfect his sons are. Max then said: "Just think… Getting to meet Princess Maria in the same forest like us. I can actually feel my knees trembling." And Alex said: "Yeah. Well fantasizing isn't going to get us closer to the princess." Alex then leans forward and said: "Cesar! Let's get going!" Cesar was standing outside waiting for Charlie as he said: "But… What about Charlie? He's still preparing your basket." "We'll leave him, Cesar. He'll just have to walk to the forest." Albert said. And Cesar knows what will happen if he disobeys, so he said: "As you wish."

Charlie was busy packing the basket with fresh loaves of bread and fruits. And although it has been slow, he wanted to make sure that there was enough for everybody. Once he managed to fill the basket, he makes his way to the front lobby and exits the house through the front doors. As he locks the front doors, he said: "Finally." He then turns around and expects to see a carriage and his family waiting for him. But instead, he discovers that the carriage is not there. Confused, he looks around for the carriage until he saw that the carriage from the distance, causing Charlie to say: "Oh no. They left without me." As he sees the carriage goes farther away from him, Zeus goes up to Charlie with a worried look on his face. Charlie then sighs as he said: "Oh well… At least we can have a picnic together, Zeus." And while this did get Zeus happy, he then looks over to where the carriage was going as Charlie looks at Zeus with a confused look. But then he looks at the same thing that Zeus is looking and Charlie knew what Zeus meant. Charlie then said: "That's right… My father would punish me if I didn't bring them their picnic basket." Charlie then goes down the steps and turns to Zeus as he said: "Let's go follow their trail, Zeus." Zeus lets out an excited bark as the two proceed to follow the trail. Nearby, Cinder watches the two off as she's eating her snack while saying: "That's it, sweetie. Don't let them get you down."

While it took them a while, they managed to get to the forest where the princess is hunting. They stopped at a stream near the waterfall. As Cesar unhinged the two Zebstrikas and leads them to a grassy field, both Alex and Max are searching for any signs of either the princess or her hunting party through their telescopes. "I don't see any signs of the princess, father." Alex said. Albert is sitting inside the carriage with Jen and Ruby as he said: "Be patient, my sons. This is a big forest, after all. She'll have to come around here eventually." As the two brothers continue to search for them, Max asks: "By the way, father… Who told you that the princess would come around here?" "A most reliable source, Max." Albert said. Just then, Max heard some bird Pokemon nearby as he looks over to where the bird Pokemon is as he spots something from the distance as he said: "Oh! I think I spot someone!" "Where! I don't see her!" Alex said as he quickly turns to where Max is looking, while Albert leans out of the window and said: "Is it the princess, Max?" As Max takes a closer look at his telescope, he only saw Charlie and Zeus from the distance. This causes Max to lower his telescope as he said: "No… It's just Charlie." As Albert leans back in, Charlie and Zeus runs up to the two brothers and said: "Sorry that I'm late, but I finally managed to find you." Albert then said: "Ah, what a shame. You weren't what we're looking for." As the two disgruntled brothers continue to look at their telescopes in different directions, Charlie said: "Oh… I'm sorry. But what are you looking for?" And Max quickly said: "None of your business!"

As time passes on. Alex and Max continue to search for any signs of the princess, though Max is helping himself to a loaf of bread. Albert is sitting on the sheet that Charlie lays out as he reads a book he brought along, while Ruby lays next to him and Jen lays near the stream. And as Charlie is setting up a small campfire nearby so he can cook the family their lunch, Cesar is currently fishing on the ledge that's over the stream with Zeus laying near him. After managing to get the campfire going, he walks over to Cesar and said: "Hey, Cesar. Have any luck?" And Cesar looks at him as he said: "Unfortunately not. And here I am hoping that I can catch myself some supper." Charlie then said: "Mind if I give it a shot, Cesar?" Wanting to let him fish, Cesar passes the fish pole over to Charlie as Cesar said: "Just remember to be patient, Charlie." As Charlie remains patient as he fishes, what he doesn't know is that Jen is staring at him with a grim smile on her face. A few moments later, Charlie notices a Magikarp getting close to the fishing hook. Just as he gets ready to pull the fish out the moment it latches onto a hook, the Magikarp suddenly swims away from the hook, causing Charlie to look around in confusion, until he discovers who the culprit is.

"Jen! I saw how you scare the Magikarp away, you bad cat!" Charlie said as he spots Jen acting asleep near the stream, though it didn't fool Charlie as he saw that Jen's tail is wet, proving that it was Jen who scared the Magikarp away. After he passes the fishing rod to Cesar, he goes up to Jen as he said: "You know, we would have caught that Magikarp if it wasn't for you, Jen." Jen quickly drops her act as she faces and hisses at Charlie. "Charlie!' Max yelled as he walks over to Jen and Charlie. Max then said: "Why are you trying to attack Jen for your lousy fishing skills?!" Charlie then looks at Max and said: "But I wasn't trying to-" "I don't want to hear it! Just don't-" Max said as he cuts Charlie off. But before he can finish, Jen suddenly proceeds to run pass one of Max's legs. This causes Max to stumbly turns around and clumsy walks backward and bumps into Charlie. This causes the hat that he was wearing to fly out of Max's head and a gust of wind caught his hat, causing Max to say: "Oh no! My hat!" As his hat flies further away from Max, Max turns to Charlie and said: "Way to go, Charlie! Now you made me lose my hat!" Even though it wasn't Charlie's fault, he knew that Albert would blame him for it anyway. So Charlie proceeds to follow the hat as he said: "Hold on, I'll get it for you." But as Cesar said: "Please, wait." Max proceeds to follow Charlie as he said: "Don't wait! Just hurry up and find it!"

Charlie continues to search for Max's hat in the forest, Max is right behind him as he impatiently said: "Well? Did you find it yet?" And Charlie turns around and said: "Hold on, I'm still looking." And as Charlie turns back and continues his search, Max said: "Well you better not lose it. That's my favourite hat." Charlie continues his search until he discovers Max's hat is stuck on a tree branch. Determined to get the hat back for Max, Charlie decided to climb up the tree. Just as he grabs on to the thick branch that has Max's hat and places his legs on the lower thicker branch for support, Max was following Charlie until he saw where Charlie is as he said: "What do you think you're doing, Charlie?! Get back down here!" Charlie then looks at Max and said: "Do you want your hat back or not, Max?" And Max replied: "Well, yeah. But there has to be a better way than doing this." "Trust me, Max. I'll be fine." Charlie said as he carefully makes his way towards Max's hat as Max said: "Well… Just be careful. And don't tear the silk." Charlie then manages to get close and carefully grabs the hat and removes it from the branch without leaving a tear on the hat. Charlie then said: "I got your hat back, Max!" But as Max said: "Good. Now hurry and get back down, before-" The branch that Charlie was standing on broke off, causing Charlie to lose his grip on the branch he was holding on and fall to the ground, while Max covers his eyes with his elbow.

After hearing the sounds of someone crashing on the ground, Max removes his elbows from his eyes and hopes that it wasn't severe. And it's only Charlie suffering a minor pain on his behind, while his hat is on the ground and remains unharmed. This causes Max to laughed as he said: "Nice landing, Charlie!" Max then picks up the hat and wipes the dirt from the bottom of the hat, before placing it back on his head as he said: "Consider this payback for making me lose my hat." But suddenly, a sound of thunder is heard which catches the two's attention as they look up. They both then saw that the clouds are covering the sun as rain begins to pour from the skies. As Charlie gets up from the ground, Max backs up to him as he said: "Um… Charlie… Is it possible to make the sun come back?" And Charlie replied: "The last time I checked, I don't exactly have any means of changing the weather." The rain starts to pour heavier as the two bumbles up close to each other as they start to get wet. In an attempt to avoid getting even more wet, the two hurry and goes under the tree roots and remain there as the rain continues to pour down. As it continues, Charlie said: "We'll have to wait until it clears up." While Max gets angry as he said: "This is all your fault, Charlie."

Back at the camp. With the rain put out the fire and limiting the vision, Albert, Alex and Ruby quickly enter the carriage as Cesar manages to calm the two Zebstrikas down after they heard some thunderstorms, while Zeus hides underneath the carriage to avoid the rain. But as they wait, they became worried as Jen, Max and Charlie haven't returned yet. And while Jen would usually go on her own when it comes to outdoor trips, she always comes back to them when it's time to leave. But the fact that Jen hasn't returned yet is quite worrisome to Albert. That and the fact that Max hasn't come back is quite troubling. As Alex starts to worry as well, Albert looks at Cesar and said: "Cesar. Where have you last seen my son?" And Cesar replied: "He went with Charlie to go retrieve the hat that he lost, sir. I'm pretty sure that they're fine." But Albert has this strong feeling that there's something wrong as he then tells Cesar: "I don't think so. Something must have gone wrong. I want you to go out and find both Jen and Max at once." Cesar then immediately said: "Right away." And just as he rushes to find them, Albert said: "And hurry!" And as Cesar heads off, Zeus proceeds to go out there and help Cesar out with his searches as well as to find Charlie.

Back at the tree. Both Charlie and Max are still waiting for the rain to stop pouring so that they can get back to the carriage. But as Charlie is waiting patiently, Max, on the other hand, is not so patient as he gets angry and said: "Okay, Charlie! You had your fun now, but now it's time for you to stop this rain now!" And Charlie said: "I told you before, I don't have the means of stopping the rain." This is something that Max does not want to hear as he angrily said: "You are so useless! I don't want to stay under this tree forever! I want to go back to where my father is!" And as Charlie asks: "Right now?" And Max angrily said: "Yes, right now! Now go out there and find Cesar so he can carry me back to the carriage, cause I'm not going to walk in the rain!" Even though Charlie knows that staying under the tree is a smarter idea, it was also a smarter idea to not get on Max's bad side as Max yells to Charlie: "Go!" Charlie then proceeds to exit the tree, before turning around and said: "Okay. But promise me that you stay here until I come back with Cesar, okay?" And Max just said: "Yeah, yeah. Just ask father to save some fruits for me." And with that, Charlie then proceeds to run down the dirt path as Max watches him until he disappears from Max's visions from all of the rain's going on.

Cesar and Zeus are running down the dirt path as Zeus tries to capture their scent, while Cesar said: "Max! Charlie! Boys! Where are you?!" Cesar's voice goes unheard as Zeus continues to try and find any scent he can find as Cesar looks at Zeus and said: "I'm worried, boy. All of this rain is probably blocking out my voice, as well as theirs. And with all of this rain going on, all of their tracks must have washed away at this point. But we have to keep looking for them, boy." The two then continue their search down the pathway as the rain continues to pour down on the two. Unbeknownst to the two, however, Charlie is at the different dirt path as he is running to the carriage to get Cesar. And due to the rain, neither they or Charlie could hear the other's footsteps on the ground.

This is just beyond angry. After all, she was supposed to be relaxing with her master by the stream and makes Charlie's life more of a mess. Instead, she has to deal with not only the rain which ruined her coat but also a sudden pain in one of her paws whenever she moves. Just who does Charlie think he is to challenge her. As far as she knew, there are two types of people in the world. Those that take orders and those that give orders. And as far as she knew, Charlie is one of those that take it. Why he wears the same clothing as those who give orders is bathering, but her master has managed to see through that and put that boy in the right position. But right now, she needs to get back to the carriage so that she can get back to the warmth she knows as well as to figure out what caused the pain on one of her paws. Now if only she knew where she is going through all of this lousy weather. But as Jen continues to travel on the dirt pathway while suffering a bit of pain, she came across someone she doesn't want to meet. But as fate would have it, she has just found Charlie coming up to her.

Great… Now she'll have to deal with him after she ruined his fun. And as Charlie spots Jen and said: "Oh, it's you." His expression soon changes to worry as he then said: "Hold on... Are you hurt, Jen?" What?! Hurt?! How does he know that she's hurt? There's no way that she will let him get near her. But as Charlie tries to get close, Jen hisses at him as she jumps back a bit while getting one of her claws ready. But Charlie then said: "Yeah. There's a cut on your paw, Jen." Hearing that confuses Jen as she looks at her paw, only to see that she did do got a cut on her paw. And before Jen could even react, she hears Charlie ripping his shirt as he said: "Hold on, let me take care of that wound." But as Charlie gets close to Jen, she hisses at him to stay away. But he would not go away as he gets close to Jen and carefully wraps the ripped cloth around her paw. And for as much as she wants to take a swipe at Charlie, for some reason, she doesn't. After he manages to tighten the cloth over her paw to cover the cut, he said: "Okay… I believe that I managed to cover the wound." Jen then places the bandaged paw on the ground and while it stings, it doesn't hurt as before. But having Charlie taking care of her paw is something bewildering and she won't have it. And before Charlie could say something, Jen runs off down the dirt pathway. And as Charlie sees her running away, he proceeds down the dirt pathway to go get help for Max.

At the carriage. Albert, Ruby and Albert are still waiting in the carriage as they wait for any signs of Cesar with Max and Jen. Just as Albert fills their cups with tea to help calm their nerves, Charlie manages to find the carriage and proceeds to head towards it. Once Charlie gets up to the carriage, Albert spotted him as he said: "Charlie? What are you doing here? And where's Max?" Charlie then explains: "He's in the woods, under the tree." But before Charlie could continue, Alex said: "And who gave you permission to go and abandon him, you coward." But Charlie then said: "Max was the one that told me to go find Cesar for him." And Albert said: "Cesar went looking for my son a long time ago. If you hurry, you might catch up to him." "So don't just stand there! Hurry up and go!" Alex said as Charlie proceeds to head back to the tree, where Max is, as he hopes that Cesar finds him in time. Meanwhile, Cesar and Zeus are still looking for the boys, until Zeus spots a fallen branch on the ground. And after sniffing said branch, Zeus manages to find Charlie's scent. Zeus then starts to bark as Cesar said: "You managed to find their scent? Lead the way, boy." As Zeus follows the scent to the tree, Cesar follows Zeus as they reach a tree. "Cesar! Zeus! I'm glad that I found you!" Said a familiar voice, as both Zeus and Cesar turns around and saw Charlie running towards him as he then said: "Max is under that tree!" As Cesar looks under the tree, he saw nobody as he said: "I'm afraid he's not there." As Charlie manages to get to Cesar and Zeus and saw that it was empty, Charlie said: "Huh? But he was supposed to stay here. I only left to come to find you, Cesar." And Cesar said: "He must have stormed off on his own." And as Charlie said: "We have to find him." Cesar: "Yes, we . He doesn't know his way around the forest."

Why did Charlie help her? What's the point of helping her if she's been cruel to him? What is he thinking about helping her? Those questions have been running through her head multiple times as she continues to travel through the forest as she can't help but admit that she is lost in a foggy field. But as she continues to wander, she discovers Max walking down the dirt pathway. This got Jen excited as she believes that Max will lead her back to the carriage and would also take care of the cut on her paw. But instead, she heard Max saying: "I can't believe that Charlie abandoned me. I bet that he didn't want to go find Cesar in the first place. I want to go find father and tell him about his true motive." But just as Max is getting frustrated as he walks pass Jen, he starts to get scared as he said: "But… What if he did get Cesar and brought him over. I should've waited under the tree like he said, cause now I'm lost and scared." The fact that Max ignored her is shocking to her, but she also shocked over where he's going as she quickly runs over and grabs his pants and starts pulling on it to get him to stop. But that only causes Max to look behind him and said: "What do you want Jen?! And why are you pulling on my suit! Don't you know how-" But when he looks back forward and looked down where he was about to walk, the fog clears up as it reveals a steep cliff. As it turns out, Max was blindly walking towards the cliff until Jen manages to stop him from getting any serious injuries. Jen was hoping that Max would apologize and even praise her for her quick thinking…

...But instead, Max drops to his knees as he said: "Father…" What is wrong with that boy… But then, Max notices something from far below as Jen looks down at the cliff. There, she spots several men near the forest as Max said: "Huh? Who are they? They look like a hunting party… But only the royal family is allowed to hunt in these areas… Are they poachers? Or…" Max tries to get a closer look through the fog as Jen manages to get a closer look as she spots a carriage near the hunting party. And on the carriage has a logo on it and from the looks of said logo, the logo itself is royal. Max eventually sees the logo as he said: "Oh! That must be we're the royal hunting army's at!" Jen looks at him with confusion as he stands up and said: "And that must mean that's where Princess Maria is! Oh boy, it's time to meet my soon to be bribe. Oh, Alex is so going to be jealous." Jen then sees Max going down the hill from the side as she starts to wonder about herself. Her master and her family are known to give orders… Yet when she thinks about it, her family also takes orders from her master as well. And it seems that he wasn't worried about her well being, but rather trying to be the next prince. She never wants to admit it, but she does fear for the worst. What if her master had made the wrong decision by making Charlie the one that takes orders…

Meanwhile. With the weather stop pouring rain, Maria, Scarlet and the hunters are currently staying near a cave as the fog surrounds their campsite. While they have gone on some unsuccessful hunts before, having to deal with the earlier rain manages to put a damper on their moods as Maria looks at the sky and said: "Remind me, who said that this is a beautiful weather to go on a hunt?" While in the cave, Emily and Nicole are sitting near a campfire that Scarlet has made as Emily said: "Perhaps the skies cried tears of joy for us. Or perhaps it cries for happiness for the past, or maybe the future." Scarlet then look in the cave and said: "You wouldn't be talking about the princess's marriage, are you Dutchess Emily?" And Emily said: "Of course. For if the girl doesn't keep breaking the hearts of the kingdom's men, there won't be a heart left for the princess to claim." Soon, Maria notices Dan approaching her with two cups of hot tea in his hands as he said: "Am I interrupting you, your highness?" And Maria quickly said: "No, not at all." Emily then said: "We all agree that the princess should find a suitable spouse soon. And while Madam Nicole my disagree, in my humble opinion, she wouldn't have to search too far." And as Scarlet looks at the two, she said: "Well, I gotta say… These two do look like a nice couple." And Emily then said: "Yes. A perfect match. I'm sure that the princess's marriage to Dan would bring great prosperity to the whole kingdom." This causes Dan to feel embarrassed as he said: "Oh, mother. You're embarrassing us."

"Your highness! We spotted something from the fields!" One of the hunters said as Maria turned her attention to the fields. She then spots a shadowy figure moving across the large grasses as she said: "Scarlet. Did you saw what we saw?" "I sure did, Maria. A Zigzagoon chasing a Buneary." Scarlet said as she gets ready. This got the group excited as Emily's Houndooms proceeds to chase the Zigzagoon, while Maria said: "Scarlet, you take point! The rest of us will follow you! Let's go, guys!" The group then gets on their Rapidashes as Scarlet rides off first. While the others don't see that far in the fog, Scarlet can as she sees through the fog like it wasn't there. As Dan sees them off, Emily walks up to her son as she said: "Soon, you will be able to enter into the royal family." And Dan then said: "Perhaps. But a part of me is wishing that she stays with me while the others go on their hunt." Meanwhile, in the cave. Nicole has been observing the group while drinking her tea. While Dutchess Emily doesn't want to admit, but it's pretty clear that she doesn't have an interest in Emily's son. But if I were to find the perfect spouse for Maria, then I will need to find someone that manages to capture her heart.

Meanwhile, Max is getting excited as he walks down the hill as the rain manages to stop pouring as he said: "Oh man… Just imagine the look on Alex's face when I managed to meet the princess first. Oh… I can already see the reaction on his face." Just as he is getting excited about beating his brother on meeting the princess first, he then stops in his tracks as he then said: "And the princess… Just imagine me and her together…" Max then starts to fantasies about meeting the princess as the fantasy princess said: "Don't be scared. You'll be safe with us. In fact, I'm actually glad that I found you. Would you like to come back to the castle with me, my prince?" Fantasy Max starts to blush as he then fantasies about fantasy Max carrying the fantasy princess as the real Max said: "Man… It would be a wonderful dream to have. But I must hurry or I'll lose the chance to meet the princess." Max then continues down in his search for the princess.

Meanwhile, Cesar, Charlie and Zeus are still looking for Max as Cesar shouts out: "Max! Max! Where are you?!" While the rain did stop, the fog is making things hard to see for the three. Charlie then said: "How can we ever find his trail with all of this fog…" And Cesar then said: "I do hope that Max hasn't had a run-in with an Ursaring." And Charlie then said: "Please don't mention Ursarings, Cesar…" Cesar then looks at the fog as he then said: "Still… We mustn't walk off the beaten path. With all of this fog, we could get lost in the forest." And Charlie then said: "But we can't just do nothing and wait until the fog clears up, while Max is lost in the forest." Just as the three are still searching, Charlie spots Jen running up to him. Charlie then said: "Jen! How's your paw? And did you see Max?" While Jen doesn't say much, she nods her head before turning around and starts to run off as Charlie said: "Got it! I'll follow you then!" Charlie then proceeds to follow Jen with Zeus following Charlie, while Cesar said: "Wait, Charlie! Don't run off! You'll get lost in the forest! Let me come with you!" Cesar then tries to follow the three, but he then trips on one of the roots and he fell on the dirt ground. This causes Zeus to turn around and look at Cesar, while Charlie continues to follow Jen.

Back at the hunt. While the Zigzagoon was chasing a Buneary for its lunch, it spotted Emily's Houndooms and is now fleeing through the high grass as it abandons the prey. As the hunt continues, the hunters are getting their rifles ready as Maria said: "That's it, you two! Flush it out! Yeah, you can do it!" The large grass soon runs out as it reveals the Zigzagoon, causing Maria and Scarlet to grab their rifles while one of the hunters fired their rifles at the Zigzagoon. While the shot misses, the other hunter fires their rifle, just as the Zigzagoon hides in a large batch of large grass. And as the two Houndooms got close and start barking at it, one of the two hunters that fired their rifles said: "Did we hit the Zigzagoon?" And after Scarlet checks the surrounding area, she said: "I'm afraid that you two missed your shots." Maria then said: "Then we'll have to check the surrounding area. Scarlet will take point, the two of you will come with us if we spotted something. And you two will have to reload your gun." "Yes, your highness." The hunters said as the two began to reload, while Maria, Scarlet and the two hunters got off their Rapidashes and grab their rifles.

Max continues to walk down the hill as he hears two gunshots, then he hears some Houndooms barking as he said: "Oh, the hunting party must be close. I better be careful or they'll think that I'm a living target for them…" But just as he's carefully going down the hill, a Zigzagoon came through from the other side of the large grass as Max said: "What the?!" As the Zigzagoon rushes past Max, he quickly gets out of the way. But he ends up tripping backwards and starts sliding down the hill. Back with the hunters. Scarlet is scanning the area when she spots something sliding down the large grassy hill. She then said: "I spotted something big going down the hill." This causes Maria to say: "It must be an Ursaring! I never got the chance to hunt one before!" Scarlet then takes the lead, while Maria and the two hunters follow behind her with their rifles armed. On the other side, Max was getting up from stumbling backwards as he was suffering from the pains that he got. But then, he spotted the hunting party with a Grenjinja at the front as he quickly realizes that he has become their next target, and if he tries to say something, he'll get shot.

Nearby, Jen has managed to lead Charlie to where Max is. As Charlie sees Max trembling in fear, he also saw the hunting party aiming their rifles at Max as Charlie said: "Oh no! They're going to shoot my brother!" This causes Charlie to quickly rushes to Max's aid. At the hunting group, they aimed their rifles at their mysterious target as they wait for Scarlet to make the first shot. But before Scarlet could make a shot, they heard an unidentified voice, saying: "Hold your fire! That's my brother you're aiming at!" While this confuses Scarlet, Maria and the hunters, Scarlet then sees a clouded boy figure running up to their mysterious target. But Scarlet took a closer look and realize that their target is another boy in a suit as one of the clouded boys got close to him. This causes her to signal to the others to lower their rifles, while Scarlet said: "It looks like what the boy is saying is true." This causes Maria to say: "Let's go check and see if they need our help. You two stay here, just in case there's trouble nearby." "Of course, your highness." One of the hunters said as both Scarlet and Maria go to the two.

Back at the bottom of the hill. Charlie manages to get close to Max, who is trembling in fear from nearly getting shot. Charlie then said: "There you are. We've been looking all over for you. We were worried that something bad has happened to you." Max then said: "Worried… Bad happening to me… Are you kidding… They almost mistook me for an Ursaring! I was so scared!" What they haven't noticed is that the princess and the Greninja are near them as they check upon them. And as Charlie said: "There, there. Everything is going to be fine." Max then said: "How could they believe that I'm some Ursaring! Didn't they notice the suit I was wearing!" The princess and Greninja looked at each other and nodded as they believe that they're going to be fine. The two began to walk away as Max grabs Charlie and said: "This whole mess is all your fault!" And as Charlie said: "But you were supposed to stay under the tree until I got Cesar for you." Max then said: "Shut up! I forbid you from speaking to me that way! You should've been the one that got lost in the forest, not me! At least I would've gone to save you, Charlie!" This causes Charlie to feel saddened as he said: "You know that's not nice to say those things, Max."

Back with the hunters. After letting the hunters know of their situation, they proceed to place their rifles in the hosters on their Rapidashes. And while they're getting ready to saddle up, they've been hearing the conversation between the two boys as Maria then heard one of the boys saying: "Shut up, Charlie! And don't even talk back to me!" Hearing that name before, Maria said: "Did he said, Charlie?" She then heard the boy saying: "And look at my suit! I can't let the princess see me in this! Hurry up and clean it!" Maria then turns around and sees that the boy that saved his life is tending to the other boy's suit. This disgusted her as she gets on her Rapidash. She then heard the boy in the suit saying: "Just you wait till father hears about this! I know that you'll get punished for sure!"_ What is wrong with that boy? He just saved that boy's life and you mistreat him like he's some old paper._ She then heard the boy in the suit saying: "Hurry up! I'm cold, wet and hungry!" But just as the boy was cleaning the other boy's suit, he then notices Maria as she recognized the boy. It was in fact, the same boy she met at the Flower Festival. The same boy that she met while she was in disguised. _So you're Charlie._

_Wow… She's even more beautiful than I can imagine__._ As the two stared at each other, the sun pierced through the fog as the two managed to get a perfect view of each other and are smitten by each other. The moment that they don't want to ever forget. _He is the most charming boy that I have ever met._ "Is there something wrong, Maria?" Scarlet asks as she notices Maria's daydreaming. While Charlie said: "You're the most beautiful girl that I have ever met. This… This isn't a dream… You're… You're right in front of me." As she sees Charlie smiling at her, she smiles back as she said: "I'm glad that you told me your real name, Charlie." This alerts the boy in the suit as he said: "Huh? Did you hear that?" Just as the fog reappears, Max notices that Charlie was distracted as he said: "Hey! Are you even paying attention!" Max then turns around as he said: "Did you see the princess?" But Max sees that there's nobody there as he said: "Huh? There's nobody there." _She was right there and she even looks into my eyes. She even knew my name. It's going to be one of those moments where it feels like a dream, but I know that it's real. _"Max! It's good that we found you!" Cesar said as he rushes up to him with Zeus and Jen following him. This causes Max to say: "About time you showed up! What took you so long!" As Cesar said: "T-The rain washed away your trail." But Max said: "Just hurry up and carry me back to father! This terrible ordeal has left me all too tired to walk!" Cesar then said: "Yes sir." As he proceeds to lift Max and carries him on his back, while Jen and Zeus look at the dazed Charlie as he still remembers the wonderful moment he saw.

Back at the hunting party camp. The three are still at the cave when they heard the sounds of gallops nearby. Emily, Dan and Nicole get up and leave the cave as they see Maria, Scarlet and the hunters returning from seeing the Zigzagoon. As the hunters and Scarlet dismount from their Rapidashes, Maria remained on hers as she was staring at the skies. As Nicole took notice, Dan said: "So… Was the hunt successful, your highness?" Emily said: "Come now, Dan. You know very well that Maria and her hunters are excellent marksmen. They are more than capable of dealing with a Zigzagoon. In fact, they probably have lots of games right now." But Scarlet then said: "Actually, we didn't get anything today. It looks like this hunt is a failure. Guess it wasn't our day today." Dan then said: "I see… I guess that you must be disappointed then." But Maria then said: "Oh, not at all. You see, I've actually managed to spot the most precious creature that I have ever met." This surprises Dan and catches Nicole's attention as Dan said: "The most… precious?" Maria then said: "Yes… And the most charming." As Dan then said: "I see…" Maria looks back at the sky while the sun breaks through the clouds. _It looks like someone has managed to capture the princess's heart. This could be a lead that I may explore._

Back home, Cesar drives the carriages as he stops the Zebstrikas in their place. As Albert exits the carriage, he brings the terrified Max towards him as Albert said: "Oh, you poor boy. I can see why you are terrified." As Max said: "It was awful…" Albert then said: "Try not to think about it." But Max then said: "I can't, father. I still think about that moment. It was the worst day of my life." Alex then leaves the carriage as he said: "Well at least you managed to find the princess. I, on the other hand, got stuck in the carriage from the heavy rainstorm. And I didn't even get to see the princess." But Albert then said: "That's enough, Alex. Let just all go inside and calm ourselves from this terrible day by having some hot tea." As Alex said: "Yes, father." Ruby also leaves the carriage as they all enter their home.

As Cesar goes to disconnect the Zebstrikas from the carriage for today, he looked over and saw Charlie and Zeus running towards the house after Albert leaves Charlie again. As Charlie goes up to Cesar, Cesar notices that he hasn't lost his smile as he said: "Oh, Charlie. I see that you still have a smile on your face." Charlie then said: "What makes you say that?" Cesar then said: "Oh, let's just say that for all the years that I worked with your family, I notice the most is whenever you saw something amazing, you would keep your smile for the rest of the day." Charlie then said: "I see… Well, to tell you the truth. I've actually managed to see Princess Maria." This causes Cesar to say: "Really? Do you mean that rather odd girl that you invited over? I believe that her name was Nicole, was it?" This causes Charlie to remember a mental image of Maria the Liar. Charlie then shakes his head as he said: "Oh no. That's not the princess. She's actually Maria. Well… To be more precise, she's known as Maria the Liar. And I can be certain that Maria the Liar is not Princess Maria. I was even surprised that the princess would know my name."

Cesar then said: "I see…" Cesar then proceeds to grab the rope from the two Zebstrikas as he then said: "But are you sure that this Maria is not the same as the princess." Charlie then thinks to himself as he said: "You know… I did tell my name to Maria the Liar… And yet the princess knows my name... "_ Is Maria the Liar actually Princess Maria… I want to say no… But… After that wonderful moment…_ Cesar then proceeds to lead the two Zebstrikas back to the stables as he then said: "Well, I'll leave you to your wonderful dream then. Charlie breaks his thought process as he then said: "Oh… Okay then." He then turns to Zeus and goes on his knees and said: "Well, at least I can tell you about the wonderful moment that I have, Zeus." As Zeus lets out an excited bark, Charlie chuckles until he notices Jen leaving the carriage with the cloth on her paw still. As it turns out, Jen was with the family as she hears the story about how Max was almost shot. But there was no mention of Charlie saving him from his doom. She thought that they would be grateful to him for saving his life, but instead, she felt a sense of disinterest in the air. And when she let Ruby know about it, Ruby said that she can't believe that she let a common fool in noble's clothing help her out. This convinces her that her master has made the wrong choice. Charlie is clearly someone who can both give and take orders at the same time. And by showing how strong and courageous he is, it manages to win Jen's trust in him.

As Charlie looks at Jen, he asks: "Does your paw still hurts? If you want, I can help patch you new cloth." Look at him, still worried about her. In fact, she doesn't even feel the pain anymore. And just to show him how grateful she is, she proceeds to run up to Charlie and tackle him to the ground, which shocks Charlie as he said: "Whoa!" As he hits the ground, Jen proceeds to hug her, before proceeding to lick his face. This causes Charlie to laugh as he said: "H-Hey… T-That tickles." Though this only convinces Jen to continue licking him as Zeus joins in and lick his face from the other side. This causes Charlie to say: "N-Not you too, Zeus…" The two then proceed to keep licking Charlie's face as they bond over the new friendship together. Nearby, Cinder is watching this happening as she smiles while saying: "It looks like Charlie has met the princess and has made a new friend. I'm glad that he's happy."


	6. The Mystery at the Fields

**The Mystery at the Fields**

The sun shines over Lestorm's house as Cinder keeping an eye on Charlie as she sees him doing the laundry, while Zeus is splashing around in a wooden bucket. This causes Cinder to say: "As usual, Charlie is given too much work by his step-father." Charlie continues to do the laundry until he got hit by a splash of water from Zeus. As Charlie sees Zeus having fun and proceeding to laugh out of enjoyment, Jen is resting near a shaded tree after she helps him lay out the clothing on the wire. Although she trusts Charlie, she has no intention of getting wet by Zeus. Just then, Jen heard Albert and his family laughing from inside the living room as well as their "book clerk". While Jen hasn't been to these "sales", she knows that in reality, it's one of Alberts informants that gives him and his family updates on the various info on the various duke and duchess of the village and which of their sons and daughters are married and which are single. They also keep tabs on the things that are going on inside the kingdom. These sorts of things don't usually interest her. But given how the family's obsession over being married to royalty, she can totally see Charlie marrying the princess to spite her master.

Inside the living room. The family are enjoying their tea as Albert informant gives them info. As Albert looks into his newly purchase book, he said: "So you can confirm that all of the Cerbam's sons are married, right?" And the informant then said: "Of course, Sir Albert. There are even reports that two of the sons are expecting a new child soon." Albert then chuckles as he said: "What a shame. Solivan Cerbam had spent his time raising all of his sons to be gentlemen, yet not a single one is married to royalty." Alex then said: "And what about the Jerma family? Has the son of the Duchess Leaf married someone? He should be around my age, right?" And the informant said: "Yes. The son has indeed married to a lovely girl from the Duke of Esquame. I believe that it's his only daughter." Alex then shakes his head as he said: "I wonder what he ever sees in her. It's obvious that it's a bad match." But Max then said: "What are you so worried about? It's obvious that with him married, there are fewer opponents for us to deal with. Princess Maria will be with us soon."

"Ah. It's a good thing that you brought that up." The informant said as he picks up a cup of tea. He then said: "I've been hearing rumours that a duchess has managed to find a serious candidate for the princess." "What?!" Albert said as he is alarmed by the news. This also shocks the brothers as the family said: "Well who is he?!" The informant then said: "I don't know. I don't know his name, or who he is. But what I do know is that he's very cultured and charming. He's even a good dancer too." Albert slams his book as he said: "At least tell us where he's from." But the informant said: "That's all I know, sir. It's just a rumour, you know." Albert then said: "Then am I to understand that nothing is official yet?" And the informant then said: "Yes. I can assure you that it's just a rumour for now." While the sound of someone marrying the princess before his sons is alerting, he sighs in relief as he sits back down and said: "That's good then. We still have a chance." The informant then said: "It could be quite possible that it isn't true at all." Max then asks: "Do you have any other info to share?" And the informant said: "Apparently, a thief is going around stealing strawberries from the royal fields. And it happens right under the king and queen's noses. I find that to be ridiculous. If anything, it looks like the work of a wild Pokemon, why else would they risk getting caught over stealing some berries." Albert then said: "Do you have any useful info besides some strawberries?" And the informant said: "N-No. That's all."

At the castle's ground. The princess is having a duel with one of the trainees for the army, while the others are watching the duel with Skarlet watching from the trees. As the blades clash, she lets on the offence as the trainee is struggling to find a good defence. After a good blow from the princess managed to put the trainee off balance, she goes in and disarms his rapier from his hand, before proceeding to point her rapier at him. This causes the trainee to fall to the ground, defeated as the other trainees proceed to cheer for the princess's victory. She then lowers her rapier as she looks at the trainees and said: "Who's next?" A confident trainee then proceeds to step forward and draws out his iron sword. The two then proceed to face each other with their stances ready, then proceed to cross blades together. While the trainee is fierce with his strikes, she is able to block and counter strike against the fierce trainee. The blades then cross again as the two are in a power struggle. But in the end, she manages to get the upper hand as she manages to disarm his sword, causing it to fly out. The sword eventually landed near Skarlet as she leaned her head away while it pierces the tree. As the trainees cheer for the princess on her another win, Skarlet said: "Nice move, Maria." But Princess Maria simply looks at the trainees before proceeding to toss her rapier on the ground. This confuses the trainees as she storms off from them, with Skarlet following her with a concerned look on her face.

As the princess continues to walk off, Skarlet catches up to her as she said: "What's wrong, Maria?" "Isn't it obvious. They weren't trying their best. How am I supposed to improve when they aren't trying their best." Maria said. This confuses Skarlet as Maria then said: "They're just afraid that I would get offended if they won against me." This is something that tends to happen to her a lot. Since becoming a princess, they all believe that she's the best at everything, but she hates being viewed as the most perfect princess in the region. Maria then looks around before proceeding to grab Skarlet and said: "Come over here, Skarlet." While this confuses Skarlet, they end up hiding behind some bushes as Maria then said: "I need to ask you for an another favour." And as Skarlet said: "What is it, Maria?" Maria then proceeds to lean in and whispered into Skarlet's ears. She then leans back as Skarlet said: "So it's that time again?" Maria then shushes Skarlet as she then said: "We can't let the others know, right." Skarlet nodded as she passes her some of her clothing while saying: "Okay… But let me ask you this, Maria. What went on during that hunting trip?" "Huh? What do you mean?" Maria said. Skarlet then said: "Well… It's just that, I heard you saying something about knowing someone's name. Did you met that boy before?" Maria then tries to dismiss it by saying: "No, I-I haven't seen that boy before …" But this made Skarlet suspicious as she said: "You sure? Because I heard you call him Charlie. You made it sound like you met each other before. Is there something that I should know about? I am your best friend. You can tell me anything." But Maria then said: "It's nothing, Skarlet. Anyway, I gotta get going now." Maria then gets up with Skarlet's clothing as Skarlet pounders about what Maria said as she then said: "I know she's hiding something."

Back at Lestorm's house. The sounds of a piano playing can be heard from outside as while Jen is inside the house, Zeus remains outside as he stares through the door's window. While that's going on, Charlie was told to go and clean the stairway at the backyard so he goes to the backyard with a broom at hand. But then Charlie notices Zeus looking through the window as he said: "Zeus? What are you looking at, boy?" Curious over what Zeus is looking at, Charlie looks through the window and sees what Zeus is looking at. They see not only Albert and Max at a chair with Jen and Ruby, but also Alex dancing with a Lopunny while another Lopunny is playing music on their piano. As it turns out, Albert hired the Lopunny twins to give his sons dancing lessons, so that they can use it to charm the princess with their dancing skills. And as they watch the lesson in progress, Charlie said: "My brothers are taking dancing lessons?" And while they see Alex dancing with the Lopunny, his skills are just average at best as Charlie believes that he has a lot of work to do.

Eventually, they stopped dancing as the Lopunny looks at Max and said: "Okay. It's your turn now." Max nodded as he goes up to the Lopunny, while Alex goes over to his father and sits next to him. Max then proceeds to dance with the Lopunny, but unlike Alex, Max is pretty stiff and has lousy step moves. But that doesn't matter to Charlie as he's busy humming to the music while tapping along to the beat of the piano. Max's lousy dance skills are making things hard for the Lopunny as she accidentally steps on Max's foot, causing him to stumble back and said: "Ow! My foot!" And as the Lopunny said: "Oh, I'm so sorry." Alex sighs as he said: "He always said that he's the fastest… Yet he's the stiffest." As Albert shakes his head, Charlie said: "He shouldn't get discouraged over something like that. It takes time to learn how to dance. I guess that's why they need lessons." Charlie then proceeds to sweep the stairway as he continues to hum to the music. While inside, Max hops his way to his father and brother and said: "Father! Why would you go and hire someone to embarrassed me!" But Albert then said: "That's enough, Max. You shouldn't go and cry over something mundane as that. A true gentleman from a noble family must be able to dance perfectly. After all, the princess is going to announce her fiance at a ball. So I want you to go back and continue your lessons." Max then nods his head as he said: "Yes, father…" He then proceeds to go back to the Lopunny and said: "Okay. I'm ready now." The two then get into their position to resume their lessons.

But suddenly, she looks at the door before signalling the other Lopunny to stop playing, which causes Max to say: "Huh? What are you-" But she shushes at Max as they can hear Charlie humming. While the family is confused, the Lopunny goes over to the door and opens it up to see Charlie sweeping the stairway while humming to the non-existing music. The Lopunny then said: "Excuse me. Mind if you stop sweeping for a while and come with me?" Charlie then stops sweeping as he said: "Huh?" The Lopunny then grabs Charlie's hand and said: "If you don't mind, I look like to dance with him." The Lopunny then brings Charlie inside and signals the other Lopunny to start playing the piano. As the music fills the room, the Lopunny starts to dance with Charlie. And to her surprise, he moves very gracefully with her. As they are dancing, she looks at the family and said: "Are you paying attention boys? This is how you dance." But the brothers are not having it as they can't stand the fact that Charlie is a better dancer than the two. As the two continue to dance, she can't help but say: "I must say, your talents are extraordinary. You could be famous throughout the kingdom." But Charlie said: "Oh, you're too nice." At this point, Albert has had enough. He then stands up and said: "It's obvious, this girl is nothing but a fool." He then walks up to them and said: "I think that's enough lessons for one day. We'll have to do this an another time." The two stops dancing as the Lopunny tries to say: "But mister-" But Albert cuts her off as he said: "Good day, miss."

After the lessons are over and the two Lopunnies leaves their home, Charlie was given tons of more laundry to do. He was given the load as punishment for trying to ruin their lesson. But both Zeus and Jen know that Albert can't stand it when Charlie does something better than his sons. But that doesn't matter to Charlie as he continues his work. _You know… It's been a while since I had so much fun dancing._ "Charlie. Charlie." Albert said as Charlie is doing an another load. Charlie then stops as he sees Albert walking up to him. Albert then said: "I have a sudden craving for some juicy strawberries. I want you to go and get some from my strawberry field for me." This confuses Charlie as he said: "You have a strawberry field?" Albert then said: "Of course, Charlie. I'm not surprised that you're not aware of it. But my family does own a field of strawberries on the other side of the woods." He then proceeds to hand Charlie a map as he then said: "Here, use this to find our field. They even said that as long as I don't take their entire stock, they can let us take as many strawberries as we want." Charlie then nodded as he said: "In that case, I'll fill an entire basket them." Albert then said: "Good. Now hurry up then, before my craving gets worse." Charlie then proceeds to run off as he grabs the basket while saying: "I hurry as fast as I can." Albert watches him off as he went to do his duties. But as Albert walks back inside, he gives off a smirk, which catches Jen's attention as she enters the house.

Inside the dining room. Alex and Max are reading their books while enjoying their cup of tea. And as Jen enters the room quietly, Albert enters the room as he said: "Could one of you boys go and pour me a cup of tea?" But neither brothers want to get up, so Alex said: "Didn't you hear father, Max? He asks you to go get him a cup." But Max objects as he said: "Nice try, Alex. He clearly said your name." But as Alex said: "Don't try and dismiss your duties." Albert heads over to a drawer and opens up one of the shelves. Inside, he spots a map on the shelves as he picks up the map. He then said: "Oh no. I made a terrible mistake." The brothers look at their father as he turns to them and said: "I accidentally gave Charlie the wrong map. Instead of giving him the map to our family's field, I've actually given him the map to the royal fields." Alex then said: "You mean that he'll be picking strawberries at the royal fields?" Max then said: "It is a serious offence to try and steal something from the royal family. Shouldn't we go and stop him?" Albert then sits down while Max stands up to get the tea as Albert said: "Oh, we should. After all, we've just learned about the thief who stole the strawberries from the kingdom. And if they saw Charlie picking the strawberries, then they'll believe that it was he who stole it." As Max pours his father a cup of tea, Alex said: "Oh. If that's the case, then Charlie would be in serious trouble and his reputation around the village would be tainted." And Max then said: "And everybody would never trust Charlie again. Oh, poor Charlie." And Albert then said: "It is a shame. But unfortunately, there's nothing we can do now." Alex then said: "Yeah. He's probably already there. What a shame."

But as the three enjoy their tea as they wait for Charlie's fate, Jen overheard everything as she knew that it's no mistake. She then quietly walk pass the three and grabbed the map that was on top of the dresser. She then quickly sneaks out of the room before they even notice Jen. She then makes her way to the server entrance and looks for Zeus. Zeus was laying in the shades when he spotted Jen with the map. As he goes up to her, Jen places the map near him as he wonders what she got. She then said that it's the map to the strawberry field and that if he doesn't hurry, Charlie would be in danger. This shocks Zeus as he asks why Charlie is in danger and Jen replied that Albert claims that he has made a mistake by giving Charlie the map to the royal fields, but she knows that he did it on purpose to try and get Charlie blamed for stealing royal strawberries. And once he gets blamed, he'll lose his morale, which would allow Albert to manipulate him to do his bidding. Realizing the horror, Zeus quickly grabs the map and proceeds to run out in hopes of finding Charlie before it's too late. And as Jen watches Zeus off, she takes a quick glance at Ruby, who's been watching her through the conversation. Ruby then proceeds to walk away as Jen gets a feeling that Ruby is not liking the fact that she is trying to ruin her master's plan.

Charlie runs through the dirt pathway as he hurries to find the strawberry field that his father owned. He then sees a cliff as he runs up to it and manages to see a huge field of plants that are growing strawberries. Charlie then looks at the map and said: "Okay… If I read this correctly, the field should be nearby…" Charlie then proceeds to go down the hill that's next to the cliff as he sees the huge field from a closer range. Once he reaches the bottom of the hill, he walks on the dirt pathway and sees a small fence on the ground that separates the fields. As he looks at the fields, he can't help but admit that they do look delicious. After he looks at the map again, he said: "According to this map… This is the border between the two fields… Which means… This must be the one father's talking about." Charlie then looks to his right and stands in front of the field of strawberries. Confident, Charlie then said: "Okay. It's time to get harvesting." But just as Charlie places the basket down, he hears barking from far away. Confused, Charlie looks at the source and discovers a Mightyena running down a dirt pathway with some paper in its mouth. But upon closer examination, he discovered that it's Zeus as he said: "Zeus? What is he doing?" After Zeus manages to catch up to Charlie, he handed Charlie the paper from his mouth. As Charlie opens the map, he discovers that it's a map to the strawberry field that Albert owns, but the location is from the other side of the field that Charlie was going to harvest.

After he examines the two maps, he then said: "Did you bring me the map that actually belongs to my father?" And after Zeus lets out an acknowledge bark, Charlie then said: "I see… Then that must mean the map father gave me, actually belongs to the royal family." Zeus then proceeds to grab Charlie's pants in an effort to try and get him to come back home, but Charlie said: "Hold on, boy. I still need to get some strawberries for my father. He'll be disappointed if I showed up empty-handed." After Zeus lets go of Charlie's pants and give off a whining voice, Charlie then said: "Hey… Don't feel sad. Besides, if we can, we can help ourselves to some strawberries as well. What do you think, boy?" After thinking for a while, he lets out an excited bark as Charlie then said: "Alright then. Let's go and find the farm keeper and get his permission." The two then proceed to make their way down the dirt pathway. After a while, Charlie notices someone as he quietly said: "Get down, Zeus." As he goes on his knees with Zeus looking at him with confusion, he discovers someone that he met before. He sees Maria the Liar in the royal field, harvesting some strawberries and putting them in her pouch. He starts to blush as he wonders if she knew that she's harvesting from the royal family as he sees her smiling until he recalls the events from the hunting trip. _Is she really the princess? The way that she casually harvest those strawberries… She must own them… Right… Maybe… Maybe she is a princess… And if she is… I'll have to apologize for calling her a liar… It's time to find out…_

"Stop! Thief! Stop!" Said a very angry guy, which catches both Charlie and Maria's attention. He looks at the source of the voice and saw a very angry Mr. Mime with a pitchfork running down the field as he said: "You're stealing from the royal family!". Maria then proceeds to run away as the Mr. Mime chases after her. And as he chases after Maria, Charlie's belief that Maria the Liar and Princess Maria being the same has completely left his mind. As the two continue their chase of cat and mouse, the farm keeper said: "Get back here!" But Maria look behind her and said: "What's wrong? Can't catch me?" The two continue their chase around the field as Charlie watches from the dirt pathway. Maria then look at the farm keeper and said: "Aw, aren't you tired, yet?" She continues to run off as the farm keeper said: "Don't you mock me, you brat!" The farm keeper tries to sideline Maria and was close to attacking her, but she quickly got out of the way as he continues to chase her. As Charlie watches the chase in progress, Maria eventually leaves the royal field and quickly moves to the next field. As Charlie tries to catch up to her, but he quickly stops when he sees a strawberry has fallen on the ground. He then said: "She must have dropped this, I'll go and return it to the farm master." But just as he picks up the strawberry, his arm is grabbed as he heard: "Gotcha!" Charlie looks at the source and saw that the farm keeper has grabbed him as he said: "So… Our little thief turns out to be a boy. And caught red-handed as well."

After getting caught by the farm keeper, he brought Charlie back to his home, where they meet with Albert about the crime he committed. As Charlie looks down and feeling depressed, Albert said: "I'm awfully sorry for this. You can't believe how ashamed and disappointed I am to hear this news. You see… Recently, I just became this boy's step-father. And with his mother out on an important trip, he hasn't been properly raised." The farm keeper then said: "I know… But stealing from the royal family is a serious crime, sir. If the king and queen were to find out, they'll send the boy to prison for his crime." Albert then said: "I understand. And… I know that it may sound forced… But I would like for you to keep quiet about it. It's for the sake of my family and my step-son's honour and future. You see… If word goes out that he was stealing the royal strawberries, his reputation would go in ruins. So I must ask that you keep it a secret." The farm keeper then nods his head and said: "Say no more, sir. I will speak of this incident to no one." Albert then bows his head as he said: "I thank you, good sir." _Perfect… I already know of these types. He won't keep a secret for some nobody. As soon as tomorrow comes, the whole kingdom will know of his "crime". And Charlie's reputation will be destroyed._ Charlie continues to look down in depressed as he quietly says to himself: "Why, Maria… Why would you go and do this…" Albert then said: "Rest assured, he will be severely punished." And the farm keeper said: "Yes. I'm sure you will, sir."

Back at the castle. Both Maria and Skarlet are enjoying the strawberries that she harvested from the field. As they enjoy themselves, Maria said: "Oh, try this, Skarlet. These taste great." Skarlet then said: "I take it he gave you a good workout, Maria?" Maria then said: "Oh sure. He was quick and a good watchman, he even managed to chase me all over the field, but I'm much quicker than him." "And to think that I happened to find the strawberry thief in the castle." Said a very angry Madam Nicole as she enters the room. After all, aside from Skarlet, Nicole knows of Maria's secret of going out to town in disguise. They have agreed that she'll keep it a secret as long as Maria doesn't commit any crimes. And the last time she checked, stealing strawberries from the royal family is considered a crime. But Maria defended herself by saying: "Aw… You don't have to put it so harshly. I'm not really stealing it. My family does own that field. I just took a shortcut and just did my own harvesting, that's all." Nicole then said: "Well thanks to your "harvesting," our keeper thinks that there's a thief on the loose. What do you have to say to that?" But Maria then said: "I'm sure that he's fine. Besides, it's not like we have anything to hide."

"Princess Maria? Are you in there?" Said their tutor from outside the room. This causes Maria and Skarlet to panic as Maria said: "Quick, Skarlet. We got to hide these." And Skarlet said: "R-Right, Maria." As they quickly sweep away the sepals from the table, Nicole said: "You have nothing to hide… Right?" As Maria feels the sting from Nicole, she then said: "Yes, come in." Tutor Khan then enters the room as Nicole turns to face him as he said: "I would like to remind you that your lessons will begin in ten minutes." Maria then said: "Yes, we know. We were just enjoying our snack." As Maria shows one of the uneaten strawberries in her hand, Khan nodded as he said: "Of course, your highness. Take your time." Just as Nicole bowed and Khan about to leave, he stopped as he then said: "Oh, that reminds me." He then turns back to them and said: "We have word that the farm keeper has captured the thief." Hearing that causes Maria and Skarlet to look at him with confusion as Nicole then said: "Do you know who the thief is, Tutor Khan?" And Khan then said: "Yes. He said that it was a boy. I believe that he said that his name is Charlie." This causes Maria to cover her mouth as she was shocked to hear his name, which Nicole took notice. Nicole then said: "Very well, they'll see you soon." Khan nodded as he leaves the room. She then turns around as Skarlet said: "What's wrong, Maria?" Nicole then walks up to Maria and said: "Is there something wrong, your highness?" Although Maria knows what Nicole is thinking, she is shocked to learn that Charlie got blamed for her harvesting as she realizes that she must confess.

As the sun begins to set, Maria rushes over to the farm keeper's house with her Rapidash with the intention of telling the truth. Once she arrives, she enters his house and proceeds to explain about her harvesting as well as the disguises of doing the harvest and the chases that they have. After hearing all of that, the farm keeper proceeded to bow down to the princess and said: "I am terribly sorry your highness. Had I learn about your harvest, I would have never chased you and insult you with all of those words. I pray that you'll forgive me." Although it was supposed to be Maria apologizing to him, she knew that she still has to help Charlie with the false crime. So she said: "You shouldn't have to apologize. After all, it is in the past and I am sorry." But as the farm keeper said: "You shouldn't have to apologize, your highness." Maria then said: "However. I will not forgive you for falsely accusing a boy of a crime that he did not commit. I want you to go and find the boy that you unjustly accused as soon as possible. Then I want you to go and give your apologies to that boy." The farm keeper then said: "It shall be done, your highness." Maria then said: "There's also one more thing I want you to do." The farm keeper then lift his head and said: "What is it that you command you highness?"

Back at the Lestorm's house, as the night skies shine over. The farm keeper brought Charlie, Albert and his brothers over as he places three baskets full of strawberries and then said: "Good sirs. I must explain. You see, we managed to capture the real thief after all. So, Charlie. I would like to offer you these strawberries as an apology for falsely accusing you." As the farm keeper bows his head, Charlie said: "Apology accepted. But, is it all right if I ask you this question?" The farm keeper raises his head and said: "Of course." Charlie then said: "Who was it? Who was the real thief that's been stealing the royal strawberries?" The farm keeper then said: "Well, the thief promises that there won't be any more stealing from now on, so we have to let the thief go with a royal warning." This surprises Charlie as he said: "Really? You did?" The farm keeper then said: "Oh… Yes. Of course. I even drove the thief there, myself." This relieves Charlie as he said: "That's good…" After that, the farm keeper leaves the house as Charlie waves him goodbye. While that's going on, Albert and his sons are enjoying the strawberries as he said: "You know… Apart of me wishes that the real thief wasn't caught." Alex then said: "Yeah… Now no one will know that Charlie was the thief and his reputation is safe…" Albert then said: "It is a shame that we won't be able to control him to our heart's content. But at least his morale is good enough for him to do more chores." And Max said: "Quit talking about Charlie and let me eat these strawberries in peace." Alex then said: "You know, if you don't stop eating sweets, we'll have to make new suits for you." But Max said: "Mind your own business, Alex." As he eats an another strawberry.

Back at the castle. Maria is prancing around her room as Skarlet leans on the wall and Nicole is sitting on the chair and enjoying her tea. As she continues to prance around, Skarlet said: "Maria… Is there something going on in your mind?" As Maria said: "Um… No… Not really…" She continues to prance around. But then, she stopped in her tracks as she looks at her friend. She then walks up to her and said: "Skarlet, you're my best friend, right?" And while Skarlet was unsure where Maria is going, she did say: "Uh, yes. Of course." Maria then looks at Nicole and said: "And Nicole, you were hired to be my mentor by my parents, right." Nicole then said: "Of course, your highness. I'll be willing to listen to what you have to say." Maria then takes a deep breath as she said: "Okay… Do you know if a guy could ever fall in love with… No… Um…" She then thinks to herself as she struggles to find the words as she said: "Wants to go out… No… Loves to… No… Offers to marry… Yeah, that's it." Maria then takes a deep breath again as she said: "Do you know if a guy could fall in love and offer to marry someone, even if he sees her as a liar and a thief?" While Nicole thinks about her answer, Skarlet said: "I don't know… But I know that if I find out that a guy was a liar and a thief, there's no way that I would ever marry him." This was not the answer Maria was looking for as she said: "But… But even liars and thieves have got redeeming qualities. There has to be exceptions. There just gotta be…" She then looks at Nicole as she said: "Right?"

But Nicole just simply place the cup on the table and said: "Well that depends… Does this girl plan on giving up her lying and thievery ways for the guy?" This confuses Maria as Nicole then said: "If she truly loves the guy, then she'll have to give up some aspects of her life in order to be with him. But I must say, why the sudden interest? Did someone manages to catch your attention, your highness?" This causes Maria to blushed with embarrassment as she said: "I-I don't know what you're talking about… T-There's nothing going on." She then proceeds to leave the room while blushing as Skarlet then said: "Okay. It's obvious that she's hiding something." Skarlet then looks at Nicole and said: "Right?" Nicole then just simply said: "Oh, she is. But we don't have any means of prying the info out of her." _It looks like my instinct was correct, someone did capture her heart. And although the only name I got is Charlie, it's a good lead to search into._

Back at Lestorm's house. Charlie is staring out at the night skies as he holds on to the strawberry in his hand while the lullaby is playing through the Ralts doll. He then said: "It's a good thing that Maria was able to go home without being punished." Just as he was about to eat the strawberry, he then shakes his head as he then said: "And to think that Maria the Liar is actually the princess, I was quite foolish to think of something like that. The next time I see her, I'll have to lay it in on her about stealing things." He then proceeds to eat the strawberry as he turns around and sees both Zeus and Jen eating a bowl of strawberries. And while they're eating at separate bows, in Charlie's mind, at least they're eating together. Charlie then looks back at the night skies with a smile on his face. Nearby, Cinder is looking at Charlie from the tree as she said: "Life's lessons aren't always easy, are they, sweetie. As long as you haven't done anything wrong, good things will always come to you. Especially when you have a fairy godmother." She then flicks her wrist as her wand products a speck of dust in the air as it goes into the night skies. It then transformed into stars as it shines over the night.


	7. The Falsify Clairvoyant

**The Falsify Clairvoyant**

At the public park of Espérer, a group of people are curious about the tent that is surrounded by a bunch of humans and Pokemon. As they merge in with the others, they can see a few beans of blue light coming from the tent, then vanishing a moment later. And then a few minutes later, someone exited the tent as they can see a smile on his face. Just then, someone else enters the tent and from the looks of him, he appears to be a farmer. There's been word going out that there's a famous clairvoyant in town that gives out accurate predictions from the future. As a result, they came from all over as they wanted to hear the famous clairvoyant's predictions in exchange for money or valuable things. Just then, a few beans of light was leaving the tent as some of the people were looking inside the tent to see what's happening.

"Your rival that caused those thieveries and arson will be arrested. With him gone, your ranch will survive and will last through three of your sons." The old man with a deep voice, white beard, a hunch back and a cloak over his body with a robe said. And as the old man was talking, images appeared in front of the farmer as the insides of the tent is being covered in a blue light, which was coming from the crystal ball. The blue light then vanishes as things went to normal, with the farmer standing up and said: "Oh, thank you. I can't wait to get back to my farm." The farmer then gets up and proceeds to leave the tent as the old man then said: "Next!" Just then, a fat man enters the tent and sits on the chair. While outside the tent. As the crowds see the tent lighting up with the blue again, a large lone figure is walking towards the large crowd with a couple of bags in its hand. Back inside, the old man said: "For you to live a long and wonderful life, you must give up your heavy drinking ways and avoid eating any ghastly foods." After the blue light disappeared, the fat man got up from the table angrily as he said: "I can't believe I had to pay money here just listen to some nonsense that my wife tells me!" As the fat man storms out of the tent, the old man then said: "So… Who's next?" Just then, the old man saw a Mienshao entering the tent. But as he waits for the Mienshao to sit on the chair, he heard a woman's voice, saying: "Here! I'm next!" This causes the old man to open his eyes and saw a Goodra in the tent next to the Mienshao with two large bags as the old man knows who the Goodra is. The Goodra is none other than the baker's daughter.

The Mienshao angrily said to the baker's daughter: "Hey! I was here first!" But the baker's daughter simply looked at him and said: "Oh no you don't! I've been waiting for a long time to find a clairvoyant that will find me my future husband and I'm not going to waste this moment!" But as Mienshao said: "Who do you think you are! Cutting in front of me so that-" But the old man said: "Calm down, good sir. I can do this girl's request quickly…" As the Mienshao disgruntledly moves over to the side and the baker's daughter proceeding to sit on the chair, the old man proceeds to stare at the crystal ball as the blue light shines the area up. As the old man stares, the baker's daughter was getting impatient as she said: "Hurry up! Who is it?! I want to know who my future husband is going to be!" But the old man didn't respond as she then said: "You know… I'm starting to doubt your abilities…" But at that moment, the blue light vanished which caused her to stand up and said: "Did you find something?!" The old man then said: "Yes. While I do not know his name, he is somewhat close." This causes the baker's daughter to get up and said: "Got it!" She then leaves the tent quickly and moves through the crowd as she spots a lone man walking down the path as she said: "Wait!" As the lone man stops and turns around, the baker's daughter goes up to him and said: "I know that this may sound crazy, but we were destined to be together. So why don't we get married together!" While it sounds crazy, to the shock of the crowd, the lone man said: "Of course." This made the baker's daughter happy as they both hugged each other, while the crowd was amazed over the old man's predicted future. Inside, the old man quietly said to himself: "It's a good thing he said yes, I hate to imagine if I have to deal with one angry baker…"

"I doubt that he can see into the future, Alex." Albert said as he is sitting in a chair while reading a book in the study room, with Ruby. Ever since this clairvoyant showed up at the town, Alex and Max have been talking about him non-stop. It would be one thing if this clairvoyant was a psychic pokemon, but they describe him to be an old man. This pretty much confirms in Albert's mind that this "clairvoyant" is a professional con-artist. Alex then said: "But it's true. He predicted that the Tomberry's family would get themselves another girl." But Albert simply said: "It's obvious that the Tomberry's family would have another girl if you apply some logic to it. Trying to figure out if the child is going to be a boy or girl is a matter of luck. But the more children you have, the clearer on knowing if the child is going to be a boy or girl. Even Ruby can predict it." And as Alex was stumped, Max then said: "But if that's the case, then how did he know that the Grenborg's grandfather would get sick a day later?" And Alex then added: "Yeah, he ended up getting the flu." But Albert simply said: "Simple, my sons. There was a cold wave that managed to get half the population. And since their grandfather is rather old, it made him more vulnerable to the virus." As this stumps the two brothers with Alex trying to say: "But father…" Albert said: "Enough, Alex." Max then tries to say: "Way to go, Alex. You managed to bother him." Albert cuts him off by saying: "Both of you are bothering me, boys. Now leave me as I continue to read this novel." This causes both brothers to say: "Yes, father." As the two turn around and proceed to leave the study room, Alex asks: "I wonder how he would predict that the baker's daughter would marry a fine young man?" And Max said: "I don't know… Your guess is as good as mine…"

This catches Albert's attention as he closes his book, which causes the two brothers to freeze in their place. Albert then looked behind him and said: "Alex. Did you say that the baker's daughter is marrying someone?" The brothers then turned around and said: "Yes, father. The same one that you said would never get a groom. Apparently, she went up to the guy and asked him to marry her and he said yes." Max then said: "And that was after she paid the clairvoyant to find out who he was. They even arrange a wedding date and everything." This catches Albert completely off guard as he stands up from his chair, while Ruby looks at him with confusion. It was one thing to predict some minor things like which child and who's getting sick, but predicting who would get married soon... That is something that no con-man can do. And if he can predict their marriage, imagine if he can predict one of his sons marrying the princess. He then proceeds to walk past his sons as he said: "Charlie! Charlie!" As Albert walks through the hall and reaches the front lobby, he said: "Charlie! Answer me at once!" "What is it, father?" Charlie said as Albert looked down from the stairway and saw that Charlie was sweeping the floor. Albert then proceeded to go downstairs and said: "About time. What were you doing as I was calling you for the hundredth time?" And as Charlie said: "I was sweeping the floors, like you told me to." Albert then said: "Never mind about that. Tell me, have you heard about this famous clairvoyant?" Charlie then said: "I have. But I didn't think that you were interested in it?" And Albert said: "Neither did I, at first. But that's in the past. Once you finish sweeping the floor, I want you to go into the village and find that clairvoyant." And Charlie replied: "Yes, father."

After Charlie takes care of the floor, he proceeds to head into the village with Zeus and Jen following him. _To think that I would go and find a clairvoyant for my father… I know that I don't have anything to give to him… But I do hope that I can get the chance to see what my future would look like…_ As they are making their way to the village, they spot a farmer on the wagon with a Mudsdale. The farmer spots Charlie and said: "Hey, Charlie. Off on one of his errands again?" And Charlie replied: "Of course, sir. I'm looking for a clairvoyant for my father." The farmer then said: "A clairvoyant, huh? Well if you want, I can offer you a lift to town." And as Charlie said: "Really?" The farmer then said: "Of course." Appreciated over the farmer offering to give him a lift, Charlie proceeds to get into the wagon as Zeus and Jen follows him as they head into town. Sometime later, the farmer made it to town as Charlie, Zeus and Jen left his wagon. The farmer then looked behind him and said: "Hope you can find that clairvoyant, Charlie." And Charlie turned around and said: "I will, thank you, sir." The farmer then looks back at the front and drives off as Charlie looks at Zeus and Jen as he said: "Okay, let's head to the park. Maybe that's where we can find that clairvoyant." With their minds set, they hurry onwards to the park.

At the park, the three start to look around for any signs of the clairvoyant. Unfortunately, they could not find any signs of the clairvoyant. Even when Charlie asks the people that are around him, they all said that they don't know where the clairvoyant lives. They then went over to some of the noble's homes and asked the servers if they know where the clairvoyant is. But none of the servers know where he is. Even when he asks the merchants that run the shops if they have seen the clairvoyant, neither of them has ever seen the clairvoyant. Feeling defeated, they proceed to walk down the street without any clues on finding the clairvoyant. But as they were walking down the street, a boy is walking down the street from the other side, proceeding to walk past each other as he proceeds to eat a sweet candy before proceeding to toss the wrapper on the street. This causes Zeus to stop as it catches a scent. Zeus then proceeds to go over to the dropped wrapper on the street. Charlie then notices Zeus and said: "Zeus? What are you doing?" As Zeus proceeds to follow the boy, Charlie catches up to Zeus with Jen following Charlie as Charlie said: "Zeus… I know that he has some sweets. But you can't go and bother him for food." But then the boy proceeds to bring the sweet to the back of his head, only for a small yellow hand to grab the sweet, which causes Zeus to let out a bark. And that causes the sweet to fall from the yellow hand as the boy said: "Huh? What's wrong Capra?"

The boy then turns around and notices Charlie, Zeus and Jen as Zeus starts barking at the boy as he said: "What's wrong with your Mightyena?" Charlie quickly goes on his knee as he said: "I'm sorry about that. He doesn't normally act like that…" The boy then notices Jen staring at the bag of sweets he has as he then said: "Well if you are looking for sweets, I can point you to the store that has them." But Charlie said: "I'm sorry, but I don't have any money on me. But could you mind lending me some so I can get Zeus to stop?" The boy then thinks for a while, before proceeding to say: "Okay, but you better pay me back for every sweet that they eat." Charlie thought about it for a moment, before proceeding to say: "Come on, Zeus. We've got to hurry and find that clairvoyant." As they turned and proceeded to walk away, the boy suddenly said: "Hold on! Did you say that you are looking for a clairvoyant?" Charlie looked behind him and said: "Yes. But why-" ''I think I can help you get the clairvoyant." The boy said. As Charlie said: "Wait, you can?" And the boy said: "Of course. But you have to pay him for his fortune. After all, we're his caretakers." As Charlie said: "We?" The boy said: "Yeah. I'm Tony and this is my little buddy, Capra." Just then, Charlie notices a yellow head coming out from behind his back as Charlie realizes that it's an Abra. Charlie then said: "I see… Well, my father is rich. I can be sure that he can make the payment." And Tony then said: "Great. We'll pass the info to him. Just give us the details and he'll be there." But while that's going on, both Zeus and Jen are pulling on his pants as they believe that he's nothing more than a con artist.

As the night skies shine over the Lestorm's house, Charlie is busy making the final touches on their dinner as Zeus is laying on the ground and looks at him with a worried look. After all, Charlie did inform Tony of the locations of where the house is. And while Charlie told both Zeus and Jen that he could be telling the truth, they fear that he could be lying to him and Charlie would face the wrath of his father. While in the dining room. Both Max and Alex are wondering about their future as Max said: "Man… I can't wait to find out if I get to be with the princess." But Alex cuts him off by saying: "Oh no you don't… I get to find out what my future is first." And Max quickly turns to Alex and said: "No way! My future is more important than yours! Besides, it was I who told my father about the clairvoyant!" But Albert cuts both of them off as he said: "It doesn't matter who goes first, just as long as one of you gets together with the princess in the future." And as Charlie enters the dining room, Albert looks at him and said: "Tell me, when will we expect the clairvoyant." Alex then said: "You did find the clairvoyant, right?" Charlie then said: "Well… Not exactly…" Max then got up as he said: "What?!" He then slammed his head on the table as he then said: "Now I'll never find out what my future is…" Albert then angrily said: "Explain yourself, Charlie!" Charlie then said: "W-Well… You see… I met this caretaker who would-" But Alex cuts him off by saying: "And can you even trust this "caretaker"?" And Max said: "Yeah! Why do you keep screwing things up for us!" Albert then said: "I must agree. You seem to have a rather nasty habit of screwing around, instead of doing your duties. So tell me… Who is this "caretaker"..."

"Excuse me, sir." Cesar said as he entered the dining room, Albert then looked at Cesar and said: "What is it, Cesar?" Cesar then said: "There's a visitor that wants to see you." Albert then looks confused as he said: "A visitor? At this hour?" As Albert pounders over who would visit him, Cesar said: "Apparently, he said that he was told to come here by his caretakers. He also mentions that he's the clairvoyant that you were looking for." This alerts Albert, Alex and Max as both brothers said: "He is?!" Just as Cesar was wondering what's going on, the family quickly made their way to the front lobby. As Max opens the door, they are greeted by an old man with a white beard and a hunch back as he carries the stick. The old man then said: "I am the clairvoyant that you requested… Whatever future you seek, I shall find them with this." The clairvoyant then pulls out the crystal ball from his cloak, causing them to be amazed by its beauty. The clairvoyant then said: "Just give me your question and I shall find them with ease." While this pleases Albert and his sons, Charlie was glad to see that Tony came through on his part.

As Albert invites the clairvoyant in, he takes his time to examine his surroundings when Max said: "Okay! I get to go first!" But Alex then proceeds to say: "Oh no you don't! I'm the oldest, so I get to go first!" And Max argues back: "No, you won't!" But the clairvoyant ignores them he said: "Quite a lovely place you have…" This causes the two brothers to stop arguing and look at him as Max said: "Father. Where's he going?" Curious himself, Albert walks up to the clairvoyant and said: "Excuse me? Do you need something?" The clairvoyant then said: "Yes… I'm afraid that my careless caretaker has forgotten to fetch a carriage for me, so I have to walk all of the way here. What I need is a hot meal and a good place to sleep." Albert then said: "I see. But can you perform your duties now?" But the clairvoyant proceeds to cough as he said: "I'm afraid not. But once I have my meal and a night of good sleep, I shall be full of energy tomorrow morning." As the clairvoyant makes his way into the kitchen, Albert then said: "I'm afraid that there's nothing more we can do for now." He then looked at Charlie and said: "Charlie. I want you to go and give him a meal. And make sure he's occupied until tomorrow. I do not want him to come see me today. Do I make myself clear?" And Charlie then said: "Yes, father." Albert then said: "And don't bother bringing him to the guest quarters, so go and provide a bed for him." Charlie then nodded his head as he said: "Yes, I understand."

In the kitchen, Charlie watches as the clairvoyant quickly eats his bowl of stew as well as a loaf of bread, even though he is on his third bowl and bread. The clairvoyant finishes with the bowl as he passes it to Charlie and said: "Fill it up again, boy." Charlie then said: "Oh. Sure thing." As Charlie fills the bowl yet again and passes it back to the clairvoyant as he said: "I do hope that you don't suffer a stomach ache over it…" "Oh don't worry, as long as there's food, I'll eat every single bit of it." The clairvoyant said in a rather unusual young voice. As Charlie looks confused, the clairvoyant quickly clears his throat. Thinking that some food was caught up in his throat, Charlie passes another loaf of bread to him as he said: "Just to let you know, tonight you will be sleeping in the attic." As the clairvoyant nodded, he proceeds to say: "Do you mind filling up a small bowl of your stew?" Charlie then said: "Oh. Sure. But what for?" And the clairvoyant said: "It's for my breakfast. Just a bit of energy needed before I must perform my task." Charlie then said: "I see… But aren't you worried that it would go cold when you wake up?" And the clairvoyant said: "It'll be fine. Just as long as I get something." Charlie then said: "I see… Okay then." Charlie then makes his way to one of the cupboards as he grabs a small bowl for him, while the clairvoyant continues to eat.

In the attic. Charlie was bringing up his breakfast as he said: "Here we are." Charlie places a tray of his breakfast on the small table as the clairvoyant enters his room. As the clairvoyant takes a look around, Charlie said: "This is my room. But for tonight, this will be your room." The clairvoyant was curious as he said: "And where would you be sleeping, boy?" Charlie then said: "Well… If I have my way, I would be sleeping near a tree as I stare at the nightly skies. But I'll be sleeping in the kitchen." Charlie then proceeds to leave his room as he said: "Good night, clairvoyant. I hope that you are comfortable in your room." After Charlie leaves the room as the clairvoyant said: "What a nice guy…" With the coast clear, the clairvoyant then taps his hunchback and said: "Okay. It's time to come out now, Capra." Suddenly, A Abra teleports from out of nowhere and after looking around the room, head towards the small bowl of stew and loaf of bread on the tray. As it turns out, the famous clairvoyant is none other than Tony and Capra, which explains why none of the townspeople can find the clairvoyant. Tony then said: "Eat up, fellow. Tomorrow is going to be a good day for us." As Capra enjoys his meal, he then notices a doll on the small table. As the Capra goes towards it, Tony notices him as he said: "Hm? What did you find, boy?" Tony then sees the Ralts doll that Capra was looking at as he gets close to it. Tony believes that the doll belongs to the boy that served them their dinner, he knows that they need to get some sleep. But he can't help but give one last prediction for today. So Tony said: "Alright, Capra. Let's give off one more prediction before we head off to sleep." Upon hearing that, Capra turns around as his eyes turned blue as it shines on Tony's crystal ball. It then shines in the room as they saw something quite amazing.

The next day, after Charlie sets up the table for the clairvoyant, Alex and Max are sitting in front of the clairvoyant with Albert as the clairvoyant stares in his crystal ball as he struggles while saying: "Still nothing…" As Alex and Max start to worry, Albert said: "Try harder! There has to be something! It has to be that my sons are destined to be the princess's groom." But the clairvoyant said: "I'm afraid that's not possible. No matter how many times I look into the future, I cannot see either of your sons marrying the princess." As both brothers felt defeated from hearing the bad news, Albert was having none of it as he angrily said: "Do you really think that you can get away with this, after we went out of the way to feed you and give you a good night sleep?!" But the clairvoyant proceeded to say: "I'm afraid that even with visions can change from time to time, if you keep asking the same question, you'll only get the same answers." Normally, Albert would be incredibly angry and would have told the clairvoyant to get out. But he then smiles as he said: "Oh… I see… Excuse me for the moment. I'll be right back." Albert then proceeds to leave the table and head towards the door as Charlie was standing nearby as he was waiting for his turn. When Albert gets close, Charlie asks: "Is it my turn to ask the clairvoyant?" But Albert simply said: "You're not getting one." This shocks Charlie as Albert enters the house.

Albert then makes his way to Charlie's room, as he looks around for anything valuable to give to the clairvoyant. He then spots the Ralts doll on the small table as he smiles while saying: "Perfect." Back outside. As Charlie brushes Zeus's fur, he sees Albert leaving the house. But what alarms Charlie is that Albert has his Ralts doll that belongs to his late father. This causes Charlie to stop brushing Zeus and quickly runs up to Albert. Albert notices Charlie as he said: "Charlie. There's dust over at the study room. I want you to go and dust it up, then make us some tea." As Charlie tries to say: "You're not going to give the clairvoyant my doll, are you? That belongs to my late father." But Albert dismisses him as he said: "I'm not going to say this again. Go and do your duties." Realizing that Albert is fully intending on giving the clairvoyant his doll, Charlie looks over at the clairvoyant as he hopes that he wouldn't accept it or step in and stop this. But the clairvoyant simply looks away from the situation at hand, leaving Charlie alone to deal with the situation. Realizing that there's no way to get the doll back, he simply clenches his fist before proceeding to run towards the house. And as he was running towards the house, Zeus notices him and quickly follows him to find out if he's okay.

After the situation has ended, Albert places the doll on the table as he said: "This antique doll should bring in a high price in the market." And although the clairvoyant knows what Albert is planning, he said: "Oh my… It's beautiful." Albert then said: "Now… Do you mind if you look into that crystal ball of yours before you leave." The clairvoyant looks at them as he said: "Oh, very well…" The clairvoyant then stares at the crystal ball as the two brothers look at him with anticipation. Suddenly, the clairvoyant said: "Oh my… It appears that Alex will lead a castle." This causes Alex to stand up and said: "Really? It's true?" And after the clairvoyant nodded, Alex gets excited as he said: "I knew it! I will get to marry the princess!" And as Max said: "What does mine say?" The clairvoyant then proceeds to look at the crystal ball… Only to discover something quite shocking as he said: "This is quite alarming…" This causes Albert, Alex and Max to look concerned as the clairvoyant then said: "It appears that Max will fall prey to a dark force and will be its puppet." As the brothers are getting scared, Albert said: "Are you sure?! Is there a way to stop it?!" Fortunately, the clairvoyant said: "It is not clear, but it can be avoided with a strong guidance from a good man, And with his path safe, he shall be married to a royal family." This causes Max to feel relief as he said: "Man… I get to be a prince. But what is this dark force?" Alex then sarcastically said: "Maybe the dark force is from all the sweets you've been eating." This causes Max to look at Alex and angrily said: "Take that back!" And as Alex said: "Make me!" Max quickly gets out of his chair and starts to chase Alex. And as the two chases around in the field, Albert said: "Well, at least my sons will be married into royalty."

Inside the house, Jen was roaming around the house, when she spots Charlie sweeping the floor in the study room. But what catches her attention is his tense grip on the broom and his sadden expression. Just then, she spotted Zeus nearby as she asked what happened. Zeus then explains the situation about Albert and Charlie, though he does ask if she saw something that Albert had. Jen then said that he was carrying a rather odd-looking doll that looks like a Ralts. This causes Zeus to realize what happened as he said that Albert has given away one of Charlie's personal items. Jen then asks what makes that doll so special. And Zeus then explains that the doll used to belong to his late father and he passes the doll along to Charlie as a memento to remember him. Jen then realized that while Albert is known for his information gathering, she never knew that he would stoop this low and steal from someone else. They then decided to get the doll back from the clairvoyant and decided on the plan to get it back.

Outside the house. After Cesar has set up a carriage, Albert opens the door and lets the clairvoyant out as he said: "Cesar. Take our friend back home." Cesar then said: "Of course, sir. Right, this way." As Cesar opens the door of the carriage, the clairvoyant enters the carriage with the doll and a stick in hand. As the clairvoyant sits down, Albert said: "Farewell, it was a wonderful experience." The clairvoyant then said: "Of course." Cesar then closes the carriage door before proceeding to hop onto the driver seat. While nearby, Zeus is pulling on Charlie's leg as he drags Charlie out of the servant's entrance as Charlie said: "What are you doing, Zeus?" After managing to drag Charlie out of the house, they saw the carriage moving on as Zeus starts to chase after it with Charlie running after Zeus as he said: "Wait, Zeus. It's going too fast." Meanwhile, at the carriage. Cesar continues to drive the carriage with the clairvoyant inside, but what they didn't know is that Jen was on top of the carriage as she brought in a basket full of apples. She then proceeds to grab one of the apples and proceeds to toss it over the carriage and landing on the dirt ground. She then continues to toss the apple over the carriage as she forms a pathway. Later on, Charlie and Zeus notice the fallen apples on the ground as Charlie said: "Zeus? Did Jen drop these apples for us to follow?" After Zeus lets out an acknowledge bark, Charlie then proceeds to smile as he said: "In that case, I should make something special for both of you." He then stands up and proceeds to follow the apple trail as Zeus follows Charlie.

In the town. Once Jen saw that she was running low on apples, she stopped dropping them as she quickly hops towards one of the market's clothes before hopping on top of the roof of the building. The town is populated and if she drops any more apples on the town's ground, it would get picked up by one of the villagers of the town and she was planning on leading Charlie to the clairvoyant's house anyway. As she continues to follow the carriage, she can't help but admit that it would be too easy to chase an old man in a town. She can even slash the old man if she wants to, but she won't do that… Yet… Once the carriage stops, Jen sees the clairvoyant exiting the carriage as Cesar said: "Are you sure that you want me to drop you off here? I can easily-" But the clairvoyant cuts him off as he said: "No, this is fine." And then he proceeds to run off, much to Cesar's confusion and Jen's shock. Jen then proceeds to hop across the building as she wasn't expecting the clairvoyant to be running so fast. The clairvoyant then heads towards one of the alleyways as Jen jumps down from the roof and lands on the ground, before starting to chase the clairvoyant. But when the clairvoyant leaps over the railing of the stair, Jen tries to follow… Only to stop on the railing as she couldn't find any signs of the clairvoyant. This stumps Jen as she can't believe how the clairvoyant is able to outrun her.

It was a long day for Tony and Capra, but now they are done playing the clairvoyant for the day. When they enter their home, Tony takes off his disguise and lets Capra out of the cloak. As Tony places the doll on the counter and the stick on the wall, he sits down as he said: "Finally…" As he removed the fake beard and his gloves and placed them on the counter, Capra was looking at the doll and touched it out of curiosity. It then activates the lullaby as Tony looks at the doll, wondering where the lullaby was coming from. As the song plays, Capra was looking sad as Tony starts to feel sad. After all, the father was clearly bribing him to give out a much more favourable vision that they want to hear. And it cost the boy the thing that belonged to him, even though it was he who provided them with the meal and a place to sleep. But then Tony dismisses it as he touches the doll to stop the lullaby as he said: "That's enough, Capra. Why should we feel sorry for him. He has a home and a family, which is something that we don't have." As Capra looks at Tony with concern, Tony looks around the goods as he said: "Okay… What to sell for today…" As he looks around at the valuable goods to sell at the market, he notices that Capra was still looking sad as he stares at the doll, which causes concern for Tony.

Back outside. Charlie and Zeus are looking for Jen since the apple trail has ended at the town. They then find Jen as she runs up to them as Charlie said: "Have you found him, Jen?" Jen then leans her head down, which tells Charlie that she couldn't find him. Not wanting to give up, he said: "Can you show us where you last saw him? Maybe Zeus can find him." Jen then looks at Charlie before nodding as she leads them towards the alleyway. Once they arrived at the last known location of the clairvoyant, Jen looks at the railing of the stairway as Charlie looks over the railing and sees some houses from down below. As Charlie was wondering where he could have gone from, Zeus sniffed the railing as he managed to catch the clairvoyant's scent. Zeus then starts to sniff on the ground as Charlie said: "It looks like Zeus manages to find his scent, Jen." They then proceed to follow Zeus as he searches for the clairvoyant. After a while, Zeus was still sniffing the location for the clairvoyant. But then he notices a strong scent at the door as he points to the door. Charlie and Jen then looked at the door and said: "Is this the place, Zeus?"

Before Zeus could respond, the door opened and they saw Tony and Capra exiting the house. This causes Charlie to say: "Oh, you're the caretaker that I saw yesterday." This shocks Tony as he said: "Huh?! How did you find me?" Charlie then notices that Tony is holding on to his doll as he said: "Hold on. Why do you have my doll?" This causes Tony to get nervous as he said: "O-Oh… Y-You see, the clairvoyant gave me this doll as payment for my services. The doll belongs to me now." Charlie then said: "I know that this may sound selfish, but that doll belongs to my late father and that doll was the last thing that he has ever given me. Can I please have that back?" As Tony remains silent, Charlie then said: "Tell me what you want. I can give it to you in exchange." But Tony then said: "Nice try. But the clairvoyant told me that this doll is quite valuable. So I'm going to sell it to the highest bidder." As Tony starts to walk away and laugh, Charlie tries to catch up to him. But Tony ends up vanishing from out of nowhere as Charlie fell to the ground. When he gets up, he hears Tony saying: "Looks like you're too slow." Charlie gets up and turns around and saw that Capra is helping Tony by teleporting him around. Charlie then said: "This isn't right! You shouldn't do this! Don't you have a heart!" And Tony replied: "Nope! I'm just a selfish guy with a valuable doll in his hand." As Charlie tries to go after Tony, Tony continues to taunt Charlie by having Capra teleporting him around the street and making Charlie stumble around on the street. While all of this is going on, Cinder was watching the whole thing from above as she knows Tony's true nature as she said: "That isn't all that you are, young man."

After Tony's latest teleportation, Charlie stumbles and landed on his knees as Zeus and Jen hurry to his aid. But as Charlie was getting up from the ground, he turned around and took a look at the cocky Tony._ I don't know why… But his voice sounds familiar… Not to mention… He looks like he's the same size as the clairvoyant._ Once Charlie got up on his feet, he said: "Say… Do you live on your own?" And as Tony said: "Well… No, I have the clairvoyant in there." Charlie then quickly enters the house as Tony then quickly said: "Hey!" Once Charlie enters the house, he sees that the room is in a mess. But what caught his attention is the cloak and robe that's laying on the chair. As Charlie takes a look at the cloak, he said: "What's this costume?" As Tony said: "It's not a costume. It's his spare clothing." Charlie manages to put two and two together as he said: "Now I know what's going on. You two are only pretending to be the clairvoyant. You use your Abra to tell people your lies." But Tony dismisses it as he said: "That's nonsense. What are you even talking about, Charlie." Charlie then said: "Then who does this costume belong to!?" And Tony then said: "I don't know, go ask the owner. It'll be your word against mine." Nearby. Cinder said: "I think you told enough lies, boy. Now it's time for you to turn a new leaf." Cinder then flicks her wrist and cast a spell as dust particles landed on Tony. This causes Tony to say: "I mean… We only wear the costume to try and get some money to survive in the streets. So we give them their predictions in exchange for valuable items." After saying that, Tony quickly covers his mouth as he can't believe that he gave his game away, though he doesn't know why.

As the sun begins to set over the Lestorm's house. Charlie is dragging Tony back to the house while Capra is following Tony and Zeus and Jen are following the group, just in case, Tony tries to run away with Charlie's doll. But while that's going on, Tony has been saying: "You can let me go now. I'm not going to teleport away or run away." Once they reach the front stairway, Charlie lets Tony go and said: "Now I want you to go and tell my father about the truth and give the doll back to him." But Tony then said: "Hold on. He didn't have any right to take this from you in the first place. And even if I give it back to him, he'll try and pawn this off again." Tony then handed Charlie the Ralts doll as he then said: "I'll just say that I sold it back to you. Don't worry, I'll tell them the truth." As Tony proceeds to head upstairs with Capra following him, Charlie was watching Tony reaching the front door with a determined look on his face. Tony then said: "It's not like I have anything to lose…" Charlie then thinks to himself for a moment and as Tony is about to knock on the door, Charlie quickly said: "Wait a minute, Tony!" This causes Tony and Capra to look at Charlie with a confused look.

After hearing a knock on the door, Albert goes and opens the front door, only to find the clairvoyant on the other side. This surprises Albert as he said: "Oh. What are you doing here?" The clairvoyant then said: "I must tell you that I have received some new details about your son's future." This catches Albert's attention as he said: "Tell me, what's the details!" The clairvoyant then said: "There was a detail that I forgot to tell you before. But for them to have a good future, they must lose their selfishness and learn how to have a kind and strong heart." The clairvoyant starts to laugh as Albert wasn't having any of it as he said: "Do you really believe I would fall for that!" He then slams the door as Tony was done playing the clairvoyant as he jumps over the stairs and said: "Wow! It really worked! He didn't even ask about the doll at all!" As Capra leaves the cloak, Charlie brings over a bag full of fruits and bread for their help. Tony then said: "Oh, why don't we tell you our predictions. It'll be on the house." Charlie then thinks about it, before proceeding to say: "Sure." As Tony brought out his crystal ball, Capra lights his eyes up as it shines the crystal ball. It then shows an image of Charlie in a gorgeous suit as Tony then said: "Your future is the brightest that we have ever seen. After you go through a series of hardships, you'll end up marrying someone very important to you and the region."

This catches Charlie off guard as he really believes that it would happen. But then he remembers their trick as he said: "Wow… You two are pretty good. You even manage to get me to believe in your story." But Tony then said: "Sure, Capra is known to make images with his mind, but sometimes, I can see into the future. And I am very certain that I'm not making yours up." Charlie then said: "Well in that case. Take these fruits and bread." After passing the bag over to Tony, Tony said: "Thank you. And take care of yourself." Tony and Capra proceed to head off as Charlie waves them goodbye as he said: "Good luck, Tony and Capra!" As they see them off, Charlie starts to wonder who is someone very important to him. Though he is glad to at least have a great future. In the study room, Max and Alex are relaxing as they are reading their book. But then suddenly, Albert enters the room as he said: "I want a word with the both of you!" Confused, both Max and Alex looked at their father as Albert then said: "I do not want to hear another word from this clairvoyant. Do you understand me?" This causes the two brothers to look even more confused than before as they wonder what happened.


	8. The Charm of Magic

**The Charm of Magic**

As the sun shines over the town of Espérer, Charlie is walking down the street with a smile on his face as Zeus and Jen follow him. While he has been sent out to town to fetch some sweets for his family, Charlie can't help but smile as he sees that today is a lovely day. As they travel down the street, one of the workers that is unloading a box full of drinks from the wagon spots Charlie and said: "Hey Charlie. Still working for that greedy father?" And Charlie replied: "Still am, sir." Even though he's been hearing from a lot of people about how bad Albert and his sons are, he is fortunate that they don't see him as part of their family, even though Albert is his father. Just then, the owner of the cafe saw Charlie and said: "At least things will be great today with you around, Charlie." Charlie then looks at the owner with a smile on his face and said: "It's good to see you too." And then there's a woman brushing some dirt off the pavement with the broom as she looks at Charlie and said: "Have you heard, Charlie? There's a circus going on at the main square." "Really? A carnival?" Charlie said as he didn't know that there was one. The lady then said: "Of course. If you manage to hurry, I bet that you can get a quick look." This gets Charlie excited as he said: "Thank you, miss. I'll go check it out." This causes Charlie to head towards the main square as the surprised Zeus and Jen quickly go after him.

Upon arriving at the main square, Charlie is amazed by the sight of the circus as he sees a large group of circus performers. He sees some acrobats balancing on balls, some Pyroar tamers motivating the Pyroars, some riders practicing their tricks on their Rapidashes and some magicians performing their magic. He also saw some of the crew setting up a stage for some of the performers to practice on as he then notices a tent nearby. Curious, he goes over to the tent, while Zeus and Jen follow him. Zeus starts to get worried that they might enter a place that they're not allowed in while Jen agrees. But as Zeus starts to whine, Charlie quickly looks at Zeus and said: "Hey, don't worry Zeus. We're just going to check what's inside." Charlie then looks back at the tent and looks inside. Upon doing so, he saw a bunch of storage inside the tent. But what really caught his attention was a boy forming some kind of water ball. The boy then lifts the water ball in the air, only for the water ball to get swallowed by a Milotic before spewing out a thin watery line. Then the boy proceeds to jump and stand on the waterline and proceeds to walk across it without having a look of fear in his eyes. Just at the end of the watery line, he proceeds to jump in the air and let out a series of water sparks in the air. Charlie was amazed by that spectacular performance that he can't help but clap, which causes both the boy and the Milotic to look at him. Though the moment the Milotic looked at Charlie, the watery line soon drops to the floor, which causes the boy to quickly lose his balance and falls backwards before the waterline line lands on the ground as he crashes into the supplies.

As the boy sits up from the crash landing with Milotic going up to the fallen boy as Charlie goes up to him and said: "I'm sorry about that, are you hurt?" But the boy simply said: "Nah, I'm okay." Charlie then said: "Did I do anything to make you fall like that? Cause I'm sorry for barging in on your practice." And the boy said: "Don't worry. Despite how bad it looks, I've managed to fumble from time to time." This surprises Charlie as he said: "Really? But you two look so good at it." And the boy replied: "True. But that's only because we have to go through years of training in the circus." Charlie then lifts the boy up as he said: "So that must mean you have years of falling like that?" The two start to laugh as the Milotic notices both Zeus and Jen. The boy then said: "What is your name?" And as Charlie replied: "I'm Charlie and these are my friends, Zeus and Jen. And I just want to say that you are quite talented." The boy nodded as he then said: "Thank you. Though I do hear that a lot. My name is Wright the Magnificent, though people would often call me Wright for short." Charlie then said: "Wow. Still, it has to be amazing to be living in the circus. I bet that you get to travel around a lot." And Wright then said: "While that's true, that also means that I can't make as many friends as I want to. Which leaves me to have this Milotic as my only friend." As Wright pets his Milotic, Charlie then said: "In that case. Why don't we become friends? After all, I'm quite alone often and I have my friends to back me up." As Wright said: "Really, you don't mind?" Charlie nodded. As Wright is glad to make a new friend, Charlie then said: "Oh, I must get going now. I still have an errand to take care of and I need to make dinner. But I'll come back to see your show." As Charlie, Zeus and Jen leave the tent, Wright said: "Okay then, I'll see you soon." But as soon as they leave, the Milotic notices that Wright's sad look on his face.

At the castle. Princess Maria is watching the workers setting up the stage for the carnival performance that will happen in two days. She heard that this particular circus group managed to maintain a good reputation with both villagers and royalty, so it'll be a delight for her to see the performance in action. Scarlet joins up with the princess as she said: "Excited for the show to come, Maria?" "I sure am, Scarlet." Princess Maria said. She then said: "After all, there's going to be some wonderful performance like acrobats, magicians and even some Pyroar tamers. I'm sure that this will be fun for everyone." This causes Skarlet to look at her funny as she said: "Let me guess… You're going to try and take part in the performance." This surprises the princess as she looks at Skarlet and said: "How did you know?" And Scarlet then said: "Because the last time there was a circus in town, you tried to sneak into their performance and only managed to create a comedy routine with everybody chasing you." This causes the princess to laugh at the moment as Scarlet soon joins in. But just then, they heard the voice saying: "I'm afraid that you won't get the chance to do so, princess." This causes the two to turn around and sees Duchess Emily and Dan as Emily then said: "I just got word from your father that you will accompany my son for an entire day. That way, we won't have to worry about any unexpected "comedy routines"." Dan then proceeds to bow his head and said: "It will be an honour to stand alongside you, my princess. And I will make sure that your experience will not be a boring one." Princess Maria then looks at Scarlet for any sign of looking to help, but Scarlet simply shrugs her shoulders as a sign that she's on her own.

At the Lestorm's house. The family is having their tea with Ruby, as Charlie serves then as the atmosphere is quite sour. Alex finally spoke as he said: "I can't believe the nerve of him. A circus is coming to the kingdom and the Cerberus's family has the nerve to not invite us to go watch it." And Max then said: "Yeah. And for all the things we did to help him, this is how he repaid us?!" Alex then said: "And he said that he can only young children to watch it. He's obviously full of it." But Albert interjects as he said: "Not quite, Alex. The Cerberus's family does have a lot of young children, and the family around them does have young children so it does make sense that they would invite them and not us." But Alex objects as he said: "But he's obviously going to use this as a ploy to get closer to my princess!" But Max cuts Alex off as he said: "It ain't your princess that he'll try to take, but mine!" Alex then argues back: "Don't try and delude yourself! It's obvious that your look is common to a Tepig!" This causes Max to say: "You take that back or-" But Alex cuts him off as he said: "Why don't you go and-" But then Albert cuts his sons off as he said: "That's enough, you two!" After the brothers stopped their arguing and looked at their father, Albert then said: "As much as it pains me to say this, we're quite at a disadvantage. If we try to go into the circus with them, it would sour the relationship that we have built up. And we don't exactly have any young children we can bring in. So until then, we're not going to go watch the circus." The two brothers start to feel sad as they're not going to the circus. _The circus is going to be in the kingdom? I didn't know that… And it looks like Wright is going to meet the princess. How lucky of him…_

At the main square. The carnival is fully set up as the ringmaster walks through the area to make sure that their performers are working hard for the big performance at the kingdom in a couple of days. As he sees each of them pushing to their best, he's confident that it will go well. Once the practice is done, he calls them together as he tells them: "Now, then. In a couple of days, we'll be performing to a large crowd over at the kingdom. This will be a perfect chance to showcase your talent with the royal family. So I want everybody to be at their best!" This causes the performers to cheer for him as the ringmaster looks around before asking one of the acrobats: "By the way, have you seen Wright?" Inside one of the tents, Wright is practicing his balancing act on the thin watery line with the Milotic holding on the waterline. The ringmaster enters the tent and sees them practicing as he said: "Ah, I knew I would find you in here." Wright turns around and steps down from the line as the two faces the ringmaster as the ringmaster said: "Why are you two practicing in here. There's barely any room." And Wright said: "I know… I just want to make sure that we get things set up for the show in a couple of days. Especially if we're going to be performing for the princess." Seeing their hard work, the ringmaster said: "Oh, I see. I'm sorry for barging in on your practice. Just as long as you are at your best, that is all I am asking for." Wright then smiles as he said: "Thank you. Your kind words will make our work more worthwhile."

Outside the tent, the villagers are minding their own thing as the Milotic peaks out of the tent to see the people. But inside, Wright is breathing heavily as his hand is on his chest. What the other performers and the ringmaster doesn't know is that Wright has a terrible case of stage frights. While he has been able to get it under control before, with an added pressure of the princess watching, it makes things harder for Wright to calm himself down. When the Milotic looks at Wright, he looks at the Milotic and nodded as they head outside. Upon heading outside, the villagers look at the two and see the performance. But it doesn't help Wright out at all as his stage fright is getting the best of him as he starts imagining that the princess is right in front of him. Trying to calm himself down, he slapped his cheeks together as he starts his performance. He tries to form the water ball from out of thin air and while it did manage to impress the crowd, the water ball prematurely burst and causes Wright to get wet, much to the crowds' amusement and the Milotic's confusion. Even though Wright is feeling embarrassed, he continues in a hope that things won't go worse for him. While the performance is going on, Charlie, Zeus and Jen join in with the crowd to see the performance. But while at first, he was confused over the crowds' laughter, he soon sees that Wright is struggling to get through his act. _What's wrong with Wright? He was doing well the last time we met. I wonder if he's having a moment where everything is going wrong?_

In time, Wright finally manages to get the water ball trick to work as he raises it in the air for the Milotic to bite into and forms a thin watery line. Normally, they would be amazed by his trick, but the crowd's mood is now focused on what else he would screw up next. Wright then proceeds to jump on the waterline and proceeds with his balancing act, though with the crowds laughing at him, it's not making things easier for him. Eventually, the nerves got the best of him as the watery line started to break off which caused Wright to panic and jump on the pole, causing the crowd to laugh at him some more. As he hangs on the pole, he can't help but vision the princess laughing at him. "Wright?" Said a familiar voice. Wright looks around and sees Charlie in the crowd. But that only made things worse for him as he lets go of the pole and flee the area with the Milotic following him as to wonder if he's okay. Seeing this, Charlie, Zeus and Jen go after him as Charlie said: "Wait, Wright! Wright!" Nearby, Cinder was watching the events that happen as she said: "It looks like Charlie is going to have a hard time trying to cheer Wright up." Wright continues to run off till he hits a dead end. Feeling defeated, he places his forehead on the wall as Milotic, Charlie, Zeus and Jen catch up to him as Charlie asks: "What happened, Wright?" Wright then said: "I just… I can't do it… With the show coming up, I can't help but see the princess everywhere I go, which causes me to lose my balance." This causes Charlie to say: "So that's why you were struggling…" As he sees Wright looking defeated, Charlie then said: "I think it's time that you need to take some time off." Wright then looks at Charlie with a confused look, till Charlie grabs his hand and said: "Come on, I know a good place where you can have your time off."

After following where Charlie was taking him while the others follow him, they end up in a rather nice grass field with a lovely pond in the middle of it. Wright can't help it but be amazed by the view as he said: "Wow… This place is beautiful…" As the two relax with their Pokemon under the shades of the tree, Wright asks: "So tell me, how did you find out about this place?" And Charlie then said: "Oh, it was something that my father and I would go to when he was still alive." As Wright was curious about where Charlie was going at, Charlie then said: "He tells me that whenever I feel hopeless or defeated, I should go to this place and those feelings would go away on its own." Charlie then looked at Wright and said: "Which is why I brought you here, Wright." Hearing that, Wright then said: "Thank you." Wright then leans back on the tree with the Milotic comforting him as Wright then said: "Man… We've never had a chance to feel relaxed in such a long time. Having to push ourselves up for the show can make a lot of people sore…" Charlie then asks: "But why do you need to keep pushing yourself when your skills are already perfect?" "It's not that simple…" Wright said as he sits back up. He then said: "When you are performing in front of a large audience, you must be perfect in your performance. Which is why we have to constantly train and rehearse ourselves daily. But whenever we go up in front of a crowd, I just get nervous and fear that I would screw up."

"You don't have to worry about that, Wright." Charlie said as he stood up. As Wright looks at him as he wonders what Charlie meant when he said that, Charlie then said: "We'll pretend that is area is your stage that is filled with an enormous audience. If you manage to get through that, I'm sure that you can handle everything." As Wright sees where he is going with and the Pokemons are getting excited, Charlie then said: "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I present to you a once in a lifetime event that you won't forget. A magician who can perform feats that are fit to be acrobats. It is time to introduce, Wright the Magnificent!" Being amazed over Charlie willing to help with his stage fright, he looks at Milotic before nodding as he gets up from the ground. They then proceed to perform their acts as Charlie and his friends watch the performance, though he does notice something from the fields. Once their performance ended, Charlie got up and said: "You see. You were embarrassed. And you even managed to attract some spectators." This confuses Wright until he looks and sees that there was some wild Pokemon watching his performance and he didn't even know about it. Feeling confident, Wright turned to Charlie and said: "Thank you, Charlie. I really mean it." Charlie smiles back as he's glad to help him out. _Father. Thank you for showing me this place. Now I know that Wright won't have any issues going out there in the kingdom._

The next day. Charlie, Zeus and Jen are out on their shopping trip as Charlie has this worried look on his face. I know that Wright will do well… But I'm worried that it could go bad like yesterday… But as he was walking, he ended up accidentally bumping into someone. As he heard someone hitting the ground, Charlie quickly looks down and said: "I'm sorry about that." But once he got a good look, he saw that it's none other than Maria the Liar, the girl that he thought was the princess of the castle. Charlie then said: "Oh. It's you, Maria the Liar." Maria was rubbing the back of her head as she said: "I'm fine… But I might as well call you Charlie the Bumper if you insist on calling me Maria the Liar." As Charlie brings her back on her feet, he said: "Hey, you were the one that bumped into me. I was worried about a friend and…" Just then, he has a realization and a plan to help Wright out. And even though Maria the Liar isn't a princess, she can help him out with Wright's problem. Charlie then said: "That's it!" Which confuses Maria as she said: "Huh? What's it?" He then grabs Maria's hand as he said: "Come with me, there's somewhere important that we must go to!" As he drags Maria away, Maria said: "Wha- Hey! Where are you taking me?!" And Charlie said: "I'll explain later!"

At the main square. Wright and the Milotic are standing in front of the crowd as he has his confidence back. With the two ready, Wright begins to form the water ball trick like before. With the water ball taking form, he proceeds to move it around in the air while it changes shape, much to the crowds' amusement. Feeling that his confidence is back, he throws the water ball in the air and lets the Milotic bite it so the thin watery line appears from the mouth. Wright then proceeds to jump on the line and starts his balancing act as the crowds start to clap. However, he starts to lose his balance as Wright tries to focus on not screwing up. But despite that, he ended up falling and landing on the ground as the crowd started to laugh. Not wanting to give up, he takes a breather as he tries to calm himself. But an image of the princess appears in his mind which threw off his concentration. Now determined, he hops back up on the waterline and resumes his balancing act. Even though things are going as normal, it doesn't help that some of the crowd starts gossiping about him failing to entertain the princess, which threw off his game. This causes him to stumble and fall off the line again as the crowd continues to laugh. As Wright hurries to get back on the line and falling down again, the crowd continues to laugh at Wright. But eventually, the crowd grew bored of it and left Wright as he just fell off the water line again. As he gets up and sees the crowd is gone, he falls on his knees as he feels defeated while the Milotic drops the watery line and tries to comfort him. Nearby, Cinder saw his disastrous performance and said: "His will is shaken and his soul is drained. But with my-" But then Cinder spotted something and then said: "On second thought, I would let Charlie handle this."

"Wright?" Charlie said as he walked up to him. Wright looked behind him and said: "Oh… Hello, Charlie…" Charlie then said: "I see that you need some help, so I brought someone very important to help you." "Someone… Very important?" Wright said until he notices someone behind him. It turns out to be Maria the Liar in a rather tacky yellow princess outfit as she embarrassedly said: "You know, Charlie. I look rather ridiculous in this costume…" Charlie then said: "Well, it is the only princess costume that we can find in the costume store. Besides, it makes you look like a proper princess." "I doubt that any princess would actually wear something like this." Maria said as Charlie then said: "Hm?" Maria then quickly said: "Oh… It's nothing. I'm sure that maybe some princess would probably wear this odd dress." And Charlie replied: "True. But at least some princesses have more manners than others." Wright then asks: "Um… Charlie? Who is this lady?" Charlie then said: "She will help you out with your stage fright. Allow me to introduce you to the princess." Hearing that causes both Maria and Wright to act surprised and shocked at the same time until Charlie then said: "To be more precise. She's actually Maria the Liar. She will play the role of a real princess, even though she's not." This causes Wright to give out a sigh as he said: "Man… You've managed to fool me, Charlie. I thought that she was the real princess." Charlie then said: "Well that's good then. If you can manage to perform your act in front of her, I'm sure that you can perform in front of the real princess." Wright then said: "Oh, that's a good idea, Charlie." Maria then nervously laughed as she said: "Yeah… it sure is…" _That was close… I thought that he figured out who I was a second ago…_

Maria then walks over to one of the barrels and sits on it, while acting like a snooty princess in a progress. Charlie then looked at Maria and said: "Are you ready, your highness?" Maria then clears her throat before proceeding to say: "You may begin." Wright nodded as he and the Milotic get into position. He then proceeds to begin his water ball trick as Maria and Charlie watch. While he starts to get nervous, he does manage to get through it as he tosses the water ball in the air and the Milotic bites it to produce a thin watery line. But when Wright tried to get on it, he missteps and landed on the ground. This causes Charlie to say: "It's okay. You can do it!" After hearing that, Wright takes a quick breather before managing to get back on the waterline. But as he travels on the waterline, he looks at Maria… And can't help but vision her as the princess, which causes him to fall off the water line again. This causes Charlie to go up to Wright and said: "Are you all right?" But Wright then said: "Charlie… I know that you are trying to help me, but-" But Charlie cuts him off by saying: "It's okay. I'm sure that you'll get it right…"

"Pardon me, Wright. But are you worried that you may make a fool out of yourself up on that stage?" Maria said as she walks up to the two. And while Wright was speechless, Maria then said: "You shouldn't have any reason to be afraid, everybody makes mistakes. The only time that you would be ashamed is by being scared of taking a risk." As Charlie is surprised by Maria's words, she then said: "I promise that I won't make fun of you if you make a mistake. The point is that you must follow your heart and will. Let your passion for magic take over your worries and doubt and perform with your heart." Wright was amazed by how kind her words are as he said: "I… I don't know what to say… But…" Before he could finish, Maria proceeds to lick her finger twice before tapping her nose, which confuses him. Maria then said: "You see when I… Um… I mean when the princess gets nervous at a very important event, she does this simple gesture to calm herself and gives her good luck." This surprises Wright as he said: "Wait. The princess gets nervous too?" Maria then said: "Of course. Princess are still people like us." Curious about the gesture, Wright proceeds to lick his finger twice before tapping his nose with it. Maria then said: "There you go. As long as you keep doing this simple gesture, you won't have to worry about your nervousness ever again." Hearing that really brighten his mood as he said: "Thank you... "

On the day of the show in the castle. The crowd is amazed and cheering over Wright and Milotic's performance on the castle's ground. Even Princess Maria and her parents are enjoying the show with Dan. It seems that Maria's helpful advice has managed to help cure Wright of his stage frights as he flawlessly performs his water ball act as they quickly transition over to their watery line balance act. During the show, Dan tries to get close to the princess. However, the princess's attention is focused on the show and not on Dan, which annoys him. Nearby, Charlie, Zeus and Jen are watching the show from the hallway that people can use to watch the show. They were lucky that they were able to get seats, thanks to Wright. And even though Charlie wishes that he could have a seat where he can view the princess, he doesn't mind having this seat since he loves the show so far. _Still, I'm actually surprised that Maria actually acts like a lady… She can't be the princess, yet she's able to help Wright out. I know that she isn't a lady, but at least she is quite nice._

When Wright reaches the end of the watery line, he proceeds to leap in the air and produce some large bubbles in the air as the Milotic uses the watery line to whip the bubbles, which causes the bubbles to burst and form a lovely rain as Wright landed on the ground. The crowd cheered for their performance as Wright and the Milotic bow in respect for the princess. And when Wright looked up, he saw the princess standing up and applauding as he knew that she enjoyed the show. But what caught his attention and surprised him is that the princess proceeds to lick her finger twice before touching her nose. He then realizes that the girl that helped him yesterday is actually the princess of the castle as he wonders if Charlie knew that she's a princess as well. And to show that her lessons help him, he mimics the same action as she did. Among the crowd, the audience is cheering after seeing such a wonderful performance. And all of the ways to the back, Cinder was watching the show as she said: "I'm proud of you Wright. You manage to come through in the end." She then looked over and saw Charlie and his friends applauding and cheering as she then said: "And it's all thanks to you, Charlie."


	9. There's something strange about her

**There's something strange about her**

At the Lestorm's house. Albert is getting prepared for an important upcoming party with a very important Duch. Alongside, Max and Alex are also getting ready for the party as Max said: "I wonder if the suit's too tight?" And Alex then said: "I don't know if this top hat matches well with this suit…" As the two brothers looked at their suits, they turned to their father as he was quite focused on his suit as he looked in the mirror. Max then said: "I wonder how father is able to stay prepared for any parties?" But Alex then said: "I wouldn't worry about it. Besides, he has to plan extra hard for your lousy choices of suits." Max then proceeds to stare at Alex and said: "Easy for you to say! At least I was able to know which suits to wear!" But Alex then said: "Yeah, it was easy for you since the suits that you got are lousy and only fit for a fat slob like you." Max then said: "Oh! And who do you think you are? You were always taking the longest on deciding which suit to wear!" But Alex then proceeds to say: "Yeah, so I know that I will always be on my best at parties. Which is something that you don't have."

The two brothers start to argue as Albert continues setting his suit. Even though these two sons of his argue a lot, he knows that they won't go too far as he knows how to keep them under control. But what caught his attention is when he spots Ruby in the mirror as she lays on the table, near the potted plant. And when Ruby looked at the plant, she saw one of the petals fall off the flower and landed on the table. Albert saw that as he quickly turned around and said: "Charlie!" This causes the two brothers to stop arguing as Albert then said: "Charlie! Charlie! Get in here right now, or you will be in great trouble!" A few seconds later, Charlie enters the room as Albert looks at him and said: "Well… It's about time you showed up. I've been calling you for well over five minutes. How long are you planning on leaving these dead flowers on the table for?" Alex then said: "Yeah, it's quite lazy of you." Even though Charlie knew that they're not dead, he can't help but say: "I'm sorry." Max then said: "Well in that case, why don't you go and get us some proper flowers then. I believe that you can find them over by the creek in the forest. Though knowing you, I bet you're too lazy to even bother going for them." "I know…" Charlie said as he knew he can't win an argument against them.

Once everything is set for them, they proceed to set off in a carriage as Charlie watches them off. After they left, Zeus proceeds to go up to Charlie as he believes that he has the day off. But Charlie then proceeds to say: "Hold on, Zeus. I need to get some flowers for them." As Charlie heads towards the forest, Zeus was confused until he heard Jen saying that Charlie was told that he needed to get some flowers for them. But when Zeus mentions that Max only told Charlie where he could find them, not tell him to go get them. But Jen then tells Zeus that even though it wasn't clear, he still did order Charlie to go fetch the flowers. And if he didn't fetch the flowers, he would be in serious trouble with the family. As Zeus starts to feel depressed over the family's cruel intentions, they later heard Charlie said: "Hey you two! If you want, we can all go together! It is a beautiful day outside." Upon hearing that, the two look at each other before nodding as they run up to Charlie. They then proceed to make their way to the forest.

At the castle. It's the time of day where the two best sword wielders in the castle, face off against each other. And in this case, it's Princess Maria and Scarlet that are facing together as they cross swords with each other, while the crowds are watching the action. Among the crowd is Dan, son of Duchess Emily. As he watches the two duke it out, Dan said to himself: "Man… These two are really going at it." During the duel, Maria takes a quick glance over at Dan. But this causes Skarlet to quickly deflect Maria's rapier and quickly thrust forward with her short sword. Fortunately, Maria quickly spotted the short sword and shifted her head in time as the sword passed her head. This causes Maria to say: "I must say, you are quite improving a lot, Scarlet." Scarlet then replied: "Thanks. I have a good "teacher" after all." After that, the two proceed to stand and lift their swords up before lowering their swords as a sign that their bout is over. The crowd cheered as Dan then said: "Amazing… But if I can bested Skarlet in an honourable duel, then maybe I can face her as partners…" But then they suddenly heard a voice saying: "That was quite careless of you, princess." Maria, Scarlet and the crowd proceeds to look over to the source of the voice and finds a lone gentleman with a grey mustache and a well-suited suit walking up to the two and said: "You should keep an eye on your opponent at all times, even if it's your trusted ally. For if it was a real battle, you would have forfeited your life to your opponent." This confuses Maria as she said: "I'm sorry… May I help you?"

"Pardon me, my princess. But I have remitted in my duties. Allow me to introduce to you, Mr. Lucard the 2nd. As of today, he will be your new master at arms." Lucard then bows his head as he said: "It would be an honour to duel you as a means of determining how skillful you are with your sword." Feeling confident, Maria then said: "In that case, I am at your disposal." Lucard then smiles as he unhooks his sword and passes it to Emily before grabbing one of the practice swords. The two then take their positions as they raise their swords, before getting into their battle stances. And within a split-second, the two cross blades together. And although she was quick and precise with her strikes, he is able to deflect and strikes back at her with quick successes. And as quickly as it started, it quickly ended when Lucard managed to overpower her and disarmed her rapier, causing her to fall backwards and to the ground. This sends a shock towards the crowd as they saw the princess actually losing a sword battle. This causes Maria to say: "I must say… It's rare that I would be bested at something… You're actually pretty good." Lucard then sheath the practice sword as he said: "It was an honour to face you." Just then, Dan proceeds to run up to Maria and said: "Are you okay, princess?" As he lends out his hand, Princess Maria lends out hers as he lifts her from the ground as she said: "Yeah… I'm okay." As Emily is watching the moment, she takes a quick glance over to the King and Queen. And seeing them smile shows that things are going well for the two.

In the private classroom. Under the request of Emily, she and Dan are joining them on watching today's lesson for Princess Maria. As the two are waiting for their lessons, Dan said: "To think that she is the of the best sword fighter in the kingdom is quite a sight to behold. It would be an honour to fight alongside her." This causes Scarlet to lean over and said: "Oh my… It seems that "Romeo" is taking a liking to you, Maria." Though Maria replied: "Settle down, ''Juillet"... The only reason why he's interested in me is because of all of the nonsense Emily has been putting into her. But I'm clearly not interested in him." Just as they are ready for today's lesson, they are suddenly greeted by an older gentleman with white hair as he said: "Good morning, your highness. I hope that you are prepared for today's lesson. My name is Maximillian Edgeworth and I shall be your new tutor as of today. And it would be a great honour to educate you on important matters." This confuses both Maria and Scarlet as Maria looks behind her and said: "What's going on, Emily?! Where' Khan?!" Emily then said: " I have a discussion with your father about replacing him. But didn't you know about it? Weren't you aware of the news?" And Maria said: "No… I haven't…" Emily then said: "Then let me explain. You see, Mr. Khan was suffering from a rather stricken illness and his age wasn't doing him any good. Although he requested that he keep going for your sake, your father has no choice but to let him go." This confuses Maria as she said: "Khan was sick? But he seems to be doing fine to me." This also causes Dan to say: "Yeah… I was talking to him earlier and he seemed to be fine to me." Emily then said: "I believe that he must be putting on a strong face. However, if you find him unworthy, I could find a replacement for you." But Maria then said: "No, I find him worthy." As she turns back to Maximillian, she takes a quick glance at Scarlet as she nodded.

In a small house near the forest. Khan exited the house as he walks towards the rocking chair with a cup in hand. He then proceeds to sit down and starts to relax over a wonderful view. But just as he was relaxing, he suddenly heard the sounds of clopping nearby. This causes him to look over and saw Scarlet on a Rapidash with a treasure chest tied on the back of it. This causes Khan to say: "Oh, hello Scarlet. It's nice of you to come visit me. Tell me, is Maria doing well?" Scarlet proceeds to stop her Rapidash in front of his house and said: "She sure is, Mr. Khan. It's nice of you to ask about her." She then gets off of her Rapidash and grabs the treasure chest from the back before proceeding to say: "Princess Maria has requested me to bring you a chest full of gold as a reward for your years of service. We hope that you can get well soon." As she passes the chest to Khan, he said: "Thank you. But I must ask, what do you mean I should get well soon?" This confuses Scarlet as she said: "We heard that you were suffering from a sickness." This causes Khan to say: "Sickness? I'm not feeling sick." Khan then proceeds to carry the treasure chest towards the table and place it on the table before proceeding to say: "After all, I manage to make myself a good meal, maintain a good meditation and organize my bookshelves." This confuses Scarlet even more as she said: "I see… But I don't understand…"

"What! Khan was fired by Emily?!" Maria said as she was shocked after hearing what Scarlet said. She then said: "Exactly. He said that due to you leaving him during classes multiple times, they believe that he is inconfident and fired him on the spot." While hearing the bad news sadden her as she is responsible for him losing his job, she is also quite suspicious as she said: "But Khan has been my tutor for years. He even helped my mother when she was young." She begins to walk to the ledge of the hall as she said: "Emily is clearly hiding something… And I intend to find out." And Scarlet proceeded to say: "Yes… She is acting suspiciously… But what could-" But just then, Maria quickly spotted something as she shushes Scarlet. With Scarlet alerted, they look out until Maria hears clopping nearby as she looks down and saw a cloaked figure leaving the castle on a Zebstrika. But Maria proceeds to say: "That has to be Emily." Scarlet then proceeds to say: "If that's her, then where is she going?" This causes Maria to run out as Scarlet said: "Where are you going, Maria?" Maria then said: "I'm going to follow Emily and see where she is going." This causes Scarlet to follow Maria as she said: "Hold on, let me come with you. There could be danger ahead of us." Meanwhile, the cloaked figure is riding down the path on the Zebstrika when suddenly, it hears the sounds of clopping from behind. This causes the cloaked figure to stop and look behind it, only to find nothing. Thinking that it was hearing things, the cloaked figure proceeds to set off on its path. What the cloaked figure doesn't know is that it is being persecuted by Maria in her civilian outfit. _Emily is being cautious about being followed. I better be careful._

Meanwhile, at the forest's stream. Charlie, Zeus and Jen are testing and drinking the water that is flowing in the stream as they all had a long hike from their home. But then Charlie notices some red petals flowing on the stream as he said: "What do we have here…" He then sees some roses flowing from the stream as he picks up one of the roses and says: "Wow… This rose is magnificent." He then pierces his shirt with the rose as Zeus and Jen notices where the roses on the stream are coming from, causing the two to head out and causing Charlie to notice the two and said: "Hey. Wait up, you two." Charlie then proceeds to follow both Zeus and Jen up the dirt pathway as they follow the stream. Eventually, they came across a series of rose bushes of various colours along both sides of the pathway. This amazed them as Zeus goes up to one of the roses and sniffs it, only to back up and sneeze from the rose. But that only causes Zeus to back up to the thorn bush as it stabs his behind. This causes Zeus to let out a yelp and causes Jen and Charlie to laugh at the hilarious moment. When Zeus starts to whine about the pain, Charlie goes up to Zeus and pats his head for comfort as he said: "It's okay, Zeus. Even the prettiest of roses can have the sharpest of thorns." Though that doesn't help Zeus as he believes that Charlie is like a lovely rose and he doesn't have any thorns.

But then suddenly, the three heard something as they turned and barely spotted the cloaked figure riding on the Zebstrika. As Charlie said: "What was that?" They then spot what appears to be Maria the Liar riding on the Rapidash as it looks like she's chasing someone. This causes Charlie to say: "Was that… Maria the Liar?" After they see Maria heading down the pathway, Charlie then said: "It looks like her… But I don't know if it is her…" Wanting to find out, Zeus proceeds to cross the stream and heads over to the dirt pathway as he starts sniffing the ground. As Charlie and Jen head over to where Zeus is, Zeus turns around and lets out an acknowledged bark, confirming that it is, in fact, Maria's scent. _This is strange… Why is she following the other rider? I wonder if she's going to do something to that other rider… I know that she can often bring trouble around whenever she has a crazy idea in her head._ Charlie then said: "Come on, you guys. Let's go follow her and see if she's in trouble." Jen nodded and Zeus let out an acknowledged barked, before proceeding to sniff the ground to get her sent. He then proceeds to follow the scent as Charlie and Jen follow Zeus as they plan to find out what Maria is doing.

In the deep parts of the forest. Maria has been both maintaining her distance as well as following the cloaked rider as she believes that Emily is up to something. She also knows that Scarlet is also behind her as she will be going above them so she can scout ahead. Just as Maria continues to follow the cloaked rider, she quickly sees that the cloaked rider has stopped, causing her to stop her Rapidash as it gives out a neigh, which catches the cloak rider's attention. After a while of silence, she hears the cloaked rider moving as she slowly walks up as she gets the feeling that the cloaked rider is more alert than before. Just then, she saw a feather slowly falling to the ground, which tells Maria that Scarlet is above her now and is ready to scout ahead. With that set, she slowly walks to the foggy parts of the forest as she'll need to rely on Scarlet to guide her through the forest.

The cloaked rider continues to ride through the thick fog as it knows its pathway from knowledge alone. It then proceeds to head down the hill as there's a large drop to the ocean from it's left as it sees an old building in front of it as it spots someone standing in front while carrying a sword. As the cloaked rider gets close, the guy spots the cloaked rider and looks behind him as he yells: "Boss! She's-" But the cloaked rider quickly shushes as the guy looks back with confusion as a large Pangoro walks out of an old building with a large sword as he said: "It's about time you showed up." The cloaked rider proceeds to stop the Zebstrika and gets off of it as it said: "Before we continue, there's someone who's been following me. I'll leave it to you to go deal with whoever it was." The Pangoro then proceeds to smile as he said: "Sure thing, Emily." He then peeks inside the old building and said: "Oi! You two lazy bums! Go out there and capture that spy!" "Yes, boss." One of the men said as the Pangoro looked at the guy standing guard and said: "Go with the two!" And the guy said: "On it!" He then proceeds to rush out with two guys exiting the building, one with a sword and another with a series of flintlock pistols. As the three runs pass the cloaked rider, the cloaked rider then reveals itself to be Duchess Emily.

Back at the deep forest. Maria is slowly approaching the area due to the heavy fog in the area. As she keeps examining her surroundings and hoping that Scarlet will spot any troubles ahead before troubles spotted her. But as Maria is slowly walking through the fog and Scarlet above the trees to scout the area, what they didn't know is that three armed men are heading towards Maria. Eventually, the three armed men spotted Maria as the one with the flintlock pistols proceeded to aim one of his pistols at her. Fortunately for the unaware Maria, Scarlet spotted them and quickly tosses a broken branch at the gunner to quickly block his vision, causing him to discharge his pistol away from Maria and causing Maria to get alerted. This causes Maria to quickly book it with her Rapidash as one of the armed men said: "Quickly! Grab the girl!" Maria then proceeds to head down a rocky hill as the three armed men hurried to catch her. While she barely makes it to the bottom and hurries to get out of there, the Rapidash got scared of the gap in front of it as it quickly rises up in a panic and causing Maria to fall off of her Rapidash. As she lands on the ground hard, she quickly sees the three men catching up to her as she quickly gets up and draws her rapier. But one of the armed men said: "Don't bother! You're completely surrounded! You can either come with us, or you're diving down to your doom!" The other two armed men laugh as the one with the pistols aimed one at her as Maria is stuck in a very serious situation. _While I can handle the two thugs, I don't stand a chance of dealing with the one with the pistols._

Meanwhile, Charlie and Jen are continuing to follow Zeus to where Maria is when suddenly, they heard a gunshot going off, causing the three to get scared as they wonder where the sound came from. Charlie then hears some voices, though it is far away. When the sounds came closer, Charlie proceeds to follow the source of the sounds as Zeus and Jen follow Charlie. Charlie hurries on through the fog until he hears the sound of neighing, just as he got passed through the fog. Just as he sees the sky, he stops in his track when he sees a cliff in front of him as Jen and Zeus catch up to him. Charlie then looks down from the cliff and sees Maria getting cornered by those three men armed with weapons. _Oh no! Maria is in danger! I've got to help her!_ He quickly looks around and sees a large rock as he quickly heads over and pushes the large rock over the cliff. This causes the large rock to break apart into a lot of smaller rocks. This causes the three armed men to look up and see the broken rocks heading towards them and starts to panic as the one with the pistol fires the bullet in the sky, allowing Maria to quickly duck into cover behind some rocks. _Phew… Nice save, Scarlet._ Charlie then sees Maria quickly getting on her Rapidash before proceeding to get the Rapidash to jump over the gap and makes her escape. This causes Zeus to let out a satisfying howl, only for Jen to tell Zeus to keep it down or they'll get caught.

Charlie then said: "Okay, let's get out of here…" "Do you really think that you can get away with this?" Said a rather angry voice as they turned and saw one of the armed men heading up to them. As Charlie slowly gets up and said: "Hold on… I don't mean any ill will towards you…" But from the look of the armed men's face, he is not in the mood to talk. Zeus and Jen quickly realize that and proceeds to charge towards the armed men and proceeds to tackle him, much to Charlie's shock. But then he saw that the armed men had not only managed to overpower the two but also toss the two over the cliff as Charlie said: "Nooo!" But before he can go after the two, he quickly sees the other two armed men coming up behind the one armed men as the one with the pistol pointing his pistol at Charlie, causing Charlie to stop in his place. As Charlie is getting surrounded by the three armed men, one of them then said: "We'll make you pay for interfering with us." Before Charlie could get a chance to say something, he ends up getting whacked in the back of the head by one of the armed men and he ends up falling onto the ground. With Charlie knocked out, one of the armed men said: "What should we do with him?" "We'll tie him up and bring him to the boss. We'll use him as bait for that spy." Nearby, both Zeus and Jen are waking up from the ground impact as Zeus spots the three armed men carrying Charlie to the old building. Zeus then tries to get up and goes after them, but Jen said that they can't help him due to the state their in and that they're clearly outnumbered. Zeus then said that while it's true, there is someone that can help him and that someone is named Cinder. As Jen asks who Cinder is, Zeus said that he'll explain later as Charlie's life is at stake. Zeus and Jen then proceed to hurry down the rocky pathway to go find Cinder.

Back at the old hideout. The Pangoro and Duchess Emily are discussing their important plan as Pangoro said: "So how's the situation going on your end?" And Emily replied: "Things are going excellent. I've effectively managed to remove anybody that dares try to get into my way. I even have my Master in Arms and my Tutor to replace them. " The Pangoro then smirked as he said: "Good. That will make things easier for us when we execute our plan." The two started to laugh as they heard footsteps nearby. When Pangoro and Emily looked at the entrance, they spotted the armed men with Charlie on his shoulder. As the Pangoro said: "So is this the one that tried to spy on our hideout?" And the armed men said: "No. There was a girl and a Rapidash, but she escaped from us. But we did capture this boy since it was he that helped her get away. We'll try and use him as bait and see if she comes back for her." Then Pangoro proceeds to say: "Very well. Toss him in the back, then go stand guard with the two." "On it, boss." The armed guard said as he carried Charlie to the back.

Charlie slowly opens his eyes as he hears the doors locking behind him. As he tried to get up, he felt like his body was restrained, until he saw that his arms, body and legs were tied up in a rope. He squirms around as he tries to find his footing, but then he bumped into something hard as it crashes onto the floor. And as he looks at the source of the crashing sound, he discovers an old wooden box on the ground, as well as some gold, jewelry and treasures, are on the ground._ Gold?! These guys must be bandits._ "So tell me. Do you have to deal with any "strays" that wander here?" Said an unknown female voice, which catches Charlie's attention. Curious over what they are saying, Charlie squirm his way towards the door as he then hears another voice saying: "Not likely. After all, not a lot of people know about this place. Although if they did find this place… I know for sure that they won't be able to leave this place again." "Knowing your work, I have to agree." The unknown female voice said as Charlie reaches the door. He then heard another voice saying: "So what's happening with the princess?" "Things are going well. It won't be long until she marries my son." The unknown female voice said as another voice said: "Good. Then it won't be long until the king and queen won't be a problem with the princess under our control." The unknown female voice then said: "And before long, I will be able to rule this kingdom. And once I do, I'll make sure that you are generously rewarded, Razor." Then another voice that was called Razor proceeds to say: "I've expected to be." After Charlie hears the two laughings, he then hears the unknown female voice saying: "Well, I must be off now. I have to maintain my duties, after all."_ What… They're planning to overthrow a king and queen and take over their kingdom?! But… I don't know which kingdom they are plotting… Or if I can find proof…_

Meanwhile, at the stream near the forest. Maria is cleaning herself near the stream as she lets her Rapidash drink the water from having to do all of that riding. Just as she was cleaning herself, she heard someone coming as she turned around and saw Scarlet as Maria said: "Thanks for the save, back there. I would have to explain to my parents why I'm covered with holes if you haven't spotted them and distracted them with the rocks." Scarlet then walks up to Maria and said: "Yeah… If I hadn't spotted those thugs, I would have had a hard time trying to defend myself in front of the king and queen… Though I must say… I wasn't the one that tossed the rocks." This confuses Maria as she then said: "Huh? If it wasn't you, then who was it?" Before they could continue, the sound of footsteps attracted both of their attention as they turned and saw both a Mightyena and a Persian tumbling down the hill. While Scarlet gets defensive, Maria said: "Hold on. I don't think that they're hostile…" When the Persian and the Mightyena got up and spotted the two, they looked at each other before nodding as they headed towards the two. The Mightyena then proceeds to bark, though the two can't understand what it is saying. The Mightyena then proceeds to bite on Maria's clothing as she looks at Scarlet and said: "Hold on… Scarlet. Did you happen to see a boy with a Persian and a Mightyena?" Scarlet then said: "As a matter of fact. I believe that I did."_ Now I understand. Charlie was the one that saved me with those thugs. And if that's the case…_ Maria then proceeds to get on her Rapidash as she said: "That boy you saw must have been caught by the same men that were after me. I have to go save him." As Maria rides off as the Persian and Mightyena follows her, while Scarlet said: "But it could be a trap."

Meanwhile, near the old building. The three thugs were continuing to guard the place when they heard something nearby. And when the three turns to the source of the noise, they discover Maria on her Rapidash as one of the thugs said: "There she is! Let's get her!" As the three thugs go after Maria, Razor steps out of the old building to see the commotion and to see the action happening. Maria then proceeds to charge towards the three as the thug with the flintlock pistols fired one at her, but the bullet missed her as the thug fired his second pistol. But that also missed her as Maria charges close to the thug. But as the thug tries to reload his pistol, Maria gets close and kicks the thugs face to knock him out. The other two thugs got their swords ready as Maria leap from her Rapidash and draws out her rapier. She then crosses swords with the thugs as she goes on the offensive while saying: "What did you do with that boy?!" As she pushes the thug away with her rapier, one of the other thugs tries to attack her from behind. Though Maria notices him and hits him with her elbow as she then said: "Where is he?!" "Looking for him?" Said an ominous voice, causing Maria to look over and see Razor holding Charlie by his neck as Razor then said: "Looks like my men were right. You did come back to save him. But now you need to drop your sword!" "Wait, Maria. Don't-" Charlie tries to say, but Razor proceeds to squeeze his neck and causes him to choke as Maria said: "Never! If it's me you want, then let him go now!" Razor then said: "And lose my valuable ace? Nice try. Now drop your sword or he'll be experiencing a rather "bad" neck." Mariia grippens her rapier as the two thugs surround her as she is caught in a standstill. Razor then said: "Well… What are you waiting for… An invitation? Or do you really not care for this boy's life."

Nearby, Zeus and Jen head to the small boulder as they see Maria and the thugs surrounding her as well as Razor and Charlie tied up. They then see Maria lowering her rapier as the thugs start to laugh as Zeus said that Maria is in serious danger and they need to help them. And while Jen said that facing them heads on would also put them in danger, Zeus said that they need to do something. Jen then notices something as she said that she has a plan. Jen starts to climb the hill as Zeus follows Jen as he wonders what sorts of plan she has. Back to the serious situation. Maria continues to struggle as Razor said: "You know if you don't hurry… my hand could get "tighter"..." Charlie then said: "D-Don't worry… About me… Just… Stay safe…" As Razor starts gripping his hand and choking Charlie, what they didn't see is that Zeus and Jen are on top of the old building after managing to go around them from climbing the hill. When the two see Razor, they proceed to pounce him, causing Razor to let go of Charlie and hit the ground hard. This causes a shock towards the two thugs while allowing Maria to shoulder charged both thugs before proceeding to run up to Charlie and said: "Come on, let's get out of here." Maria then proceeds to cut the rope that bounded Charlie, allowing him to move freely as they hurry and get on her Rapidash and rides out of here with Zeus and Jen following the two, while the thugs are getting up from the ground.

As the sun starts to set, over at the stream in the forest. Zeus and Jen are drinking the stream's water while Charlie is cooling his feet from the amount of walking he has to do all day. He then heard Maria saying: "Looks like they stop following us. We should be safe now, Charlie." As Maria proceeds to sit next to Charlie, Charlie then said: "Yeah. Thank you for saving my life back there, Maria." But Maria then said: "Don't thank me. Thank your friends for letting me know that you're in danger." Charlie then looks over to Jen and Zeus as the two smiles back at Charlie. Charlie then looked back at Maria and said: "Still. At least I'm glad that you're not part of the bandit's plot to overthrow the kingdom…" This confuses Maria as she said: "The bandit's plot?" Charlie then said: "Yeah. I overheard these two talking about a plan to use the princess to take over a castle." Maria then said: "A plan… To use our princess to capture a castle?" But Charlie then said: "I don't know if it's our princess that they're talking about. They didn't mention a name. But I did hear someone calling another Razor. Though I doubt that's a princess name."

And at that moment, Maria has gotten a grasp of the situation. Duchess Emily is planning on using her son to marry her, then use that said power to manipulate the two to control the kingdom. While she doesn't know what her reasons are, she will make sure that Emily won't take over her kingdom as she said: "I've got to do something about it." But Charlie then said: "Hold on. We don't know if they're talking about our kingdom or theirs. And even then, we don't exactly have any proof…" At that moment, Maria also realized something. While Charlie does bring up a good point about a lack of proof, there's also the fact that if Emily learns that Charlie overheard their plan, it'll put his life in danger as well as his friends and family. So in the end, Maria looks at Charlie and said: "You know… You do have a good point. If we tried to explain our situation to the king and queen, they'll think that we're crazy and throw us in the dungeon." Charlie then said: "Right… I just want to put this whole bad memory behind us…"

As the night falls over the Lestorm's house. The family returned from their important party as Charlie manages to gather the roses before they return. In the dining room, Alex said: "It looks like you managed to manage to find some much better flowers, Charlie." Max then said: "Yeah. They look good." Albert then said: "It's nice that you're capable of doing this simple task, Charlie." Charlie then said: "As long as I can make you guys happy." Outside the house. Zeus and Jen meet up with Cinder as Zeus not only introduces Jen to Cinder but also to explain the situation involving Charlie. After hearing all of that, Cinder then said: "I see. I'm sorry that I wasn't around when he was in danger." But Zeus then said that it's alright since he is able to help him out, though Jen said that it was her planning that helped him. But Cinder then proceeds to say: "It's okay. I know that the two of you did your best. And I also know that you two would remain by his side as the best of friends." "Zeus! Jen!" Charlie said, which catches their attention as they hurry towards Charlie, while Cinder watches them from the distance with a smile on her face.


	10. The lonely violinist

**The lonely violinist**

At the castle of Espérer. Princess Maria is enjoying her royal meal with her parents in the dining room. Things are usually normal when it comes to their meals, but today is somewhat different. And that's due to Lionhart and Oracle noticing how close Maria and Dan are and the two are willing to let them be together. With a nod from Oracle as a signal to her husband, Lionhart proceeds to gently clear his throat to get her attention. But when her daughter didn't notice, he gently clears his throat again. But when that fails, he signals back to his wife as Oracle breaks the silence as she proceeds to say: "Maria." Princess Maria then looked at her mother and said: "Yes, mother?" "So tell me. I heard that you and Duchess Emily's son, Dan have been spending a lot of time together. Is that true?" Princess Maria then said: "Oh. Well yes. But if you insist that I should stop hanging out with him, I'll gladly tell him myself." However, Oracle quickly said: "Oh no. That is not at all what we were going to say, Maria." Lionhart then proceeds to say: "We actually discussed with each other earlier and we were hoping that-" But Princess Maria then quickly said: "Oh. I just remembered." She then quickly got up from her seat as she then said: "I promised Scarlet to help out on her stealth practices and she'll be mad with me if I'm late. If you please excuse me." Princess Maria then proceeds to quickly bow her head before leaving the room as Oracle said: "But Maria." Once they see Maria exiting the room, the two look at each other and wonder if they are meant to be with each other.

In the throne room. The king and queen have summoned both Madam Nicole and Duchess Emily to the room to discuss the situation with the marriage of their daughter, Maria. Once they arrived, Lionhart said: "So tell me, you two. What is the situation in finding a bachelor for our daughter?" Duchess Emily then said: "I can assure you, your majesty, things are going well together with my son and your daughter. I'm quite confident that she is falling in love with him." But Oracle then said: "I don't know... I don't have the feeling that the two are getting closer together… Has there been any word about Duchess Emily's Son, Madam Nicole?" And Madam Nicole proceeds to say: "No, your highness. There hasn't been any word from your daughter about him. If anything, it shows that she doesn't have any interest in him, other than being friends with him." But Duchess Emily then said: "Au contraire. There's a very good chance that she may be hiding her feelings from you. She is quite young so she could be shy. If she's seen standoffish, it could mean that she's falling in love." But Lionhart isn't convinced as he said: "I don't know… How are things on your end, Madam Nicole." And Madam Nicole said: "It's been slow, your majesty. While I have a few leads, I'm still in need of some info before I could properly conduct my search." Lionhart then said: "I see…" Oracle then said: "Then why don't we invite some lovely young men and see if she's interested in them."

"I must object to this plan, your highness." Duchess Emily said. She then said: "We can't just go off and grab some random bachelor from out of the town. This is your daughter's future, after all. If we were to go and marry your daughter off to the wrong bachelor, we could end up with a bachelor who's only interested in taking advantage of the good people of Espérer." Madam Nicole then said: "While I don't normally agree with her ideas, she does bring up a good point. I must object to this plan of yours." Lionhart understands where they are going with as he said: "I see… But then Duchess Emily said: "If I may, I would like to discuss about my son. Ah, but please. Don't think that I'm putting the positions of your daughter's future fiance on my son. It is my duty to ensure the future of this kingdom." Madam Nicole then looked at Duchess Emily and said: "Where are you going with this, Duchess Emily?" Duchess Emily then said: "What I'm saying is that I would like to throw a party in honour of my son's birthday. And obviously, the princess is invited to the party. That way, we can truly find out if the princess does have any interest towards my son." Both Lionhart and Oracle look at each other, before nodding as Lionhart looks at the two and said: "Very well. Madam Nicole, ensure that this message gets passed to our daughter." Madam Nicole then bowed her head and said: "As you wish, my lord."

In the Lestorm's house. Charlie is busy working on Alex's suit for the birthday party that's happening tomorrow. A party that invites a lot of noblemen to celebrate a duchess's son. And as expected, his father and brothers are invited to the party as well and as expected, they won't invite Charlie to the party. And while he is willing to help Alex out, he can't help but feel sad. Ever since he first moved in with Albert and the two brothers, he wasn't allowed to come to any events or parties. It's pretty much depressing for him to not only help deal with the family's constant list of chores but also not being able to come with them to enjoy those fun parties and events. He can't help but constantly wonder if his mother knew about Albert's true nature. But in the end, he can't leave Albert and his brothers since he doesn't have any plans on how he can survive on the streets, but it would also break her mother's heart if she learns that he ran away from the house.

Charlie then continues to work on Alex's suit as he is sewing a feather into his suit. Once he's done with the work, Alex enters the room and said: "Charlie! Are you done with the suit?!" Charlie then places the sewing kit down as he said: "Yeah. I've managed to sew in the flower for you, Alex." Alex then said: "Well now you can take that feather out of the suit! Now I want you to put a rose into my suit!" This confuses Charlie as he said: "But Alex. You were the one that said that I should put the feather on. You never mentioned anything about a rose." But Alex slammed his hands on the table as he said: "Do you have any ounce of knowledge up in your tiny mind?! Do you really believe that any sane man would wear something like this?!" As Charlie remains silent, Alex then said: "I thought so. Now I want you to go and remove the feather and put in the rose, now!" As he leaves the room, Alex then said: "The duchess party is happening tomorrow and I want to be the best bachelor in the party." Once he leaves the room, Charlie sighs as he resumes his work by unsewing the feather from the suit.

Over at Duchess Emily's house. Her servants are working hard on decorating the room for the son's birthday in the main lobby. Emily then enters the main lobby as she examines the room to make sure that there isn't a single mistake in the room for her son's birthday. As she is examining the room, Dan enters the lobby as he said: "Mother." Emily then turns around and sees her son as Dan walks up to her mom as she said: "Son. How are you?" Dan then said: "Good. But I am wondering if Princess Maria would come to the party." And Emily then said: "Of course she will. There's no way that she'll refuse to not attend the party with our soon to be groom attending the party." Dan starts to blush as he said: "Oh mother… You're making me blush. But do you really think that she'll marry me?" Before she could say something, she hears someone saying: "Excuse me, your duchess." She then turns around and sees Lucard and Maximillian entering the lobby as Maximillian said: "We have received word that every nobleman would be joining in on his birthday." This pleases Emily as she said: "Excellent. I need this party to be a success." Dan then said: "If there are going to be other noblemen joining the party, she can compare me to the others and see that I'm the most charming out of all of them." He then bow his head before proceeding to say: "Now if you must excuse me, I must find the perfect suit to wear tomorrow."

Dan then proceeds to leave the lobby as Emily sees him off. Once she sees him gone, she turns to the two and said: "You two still haven't told me if the princess is going to be joining the party or not." The two become nervous as Maximillian said: "Well… It's just that…" "We still haven't heard anything from the princess. Not even Madam Nicole could tell if she plans ongoing or not." Lucard said. But this was something that Emily did not want to hear as she grabbed the two and said: "You idiots! Why do you think that I got you those jobs in the first place! Isn't it obvious that you are supposed to be feeding me information about the princess!" The two remained speechless as she shoved the two of them together as she then said: "I need that princess here tomorrow by any means necessary. And if you two were to somehow fail this simple task…" She then proceeds to snap her fingers as the two Houndooms enter the lobby and start growling at the two while walking slowly to them. This causes the two to quickly get the message as both quickly said: "We won't fail you! We'll bring the princess to you!"

Back at the castle, with the sun's setting. Maria is watching the sun setting as she said: "You know… I always love it when the sun begins to set…" She then turns around and faces Scarlet as she said: "So why don't we go out hunting with the hunters for a few days tomorrow?" Scarlet then said: "You're not serious, are you? Did you forget that Dan's birthday party is tomorrow?" Maria then looked back out into the sunset and said: "No, I haven't. But I still haven't accepted his invitation." Scarlet then said: "Oh? Why not?" Maria then said: "I just don't feel like it. That's all." "I wouldn't recommend rejecting an invitation to a birthday party that easily. Especially when it's the duchess son's birthday party." Nicole said as Maria faced her with a confused look on her face. Maria then said: "What do you mean?" Nicole then said: "She has a clear indication of wanting you to take part in his birthday party for his sake. And I can't imagine she would be happy if you would go and refuse her invitation." Maria then remembers about the events with Charlie earlier and the possible plan of her taking over the kingdom. While Maria plans on not taking part in the party, she also realizes that it won't be simple as she thinks.

The next day, at the Lestorm's house. The family is getting ready for the party as Max is looking at himself through the mirror as he said: "Man, this tophat really suits me." Though Alex objects: "What are you talking about? My hat is clearly better." Max turns around and sees that Alex has yet put on his suit as he said: "Yeah, too bad you don't have a suit to match." While Alex ignores Max's comment, Max then looked at his father and said: "By the way? Who is this, Dan? The boy who's birthday party we're going to?" Albert then said: "That is nothing you should be concerned with. After all, despite my research, he's a stranger to me too." But before Albert could finish, they heard a knock on the door, causing them to turn and see Charlie entering the room with Alex's suit as he said: "Sorry that I'm late. I've got the suit ready." Alex then goes up to Charlie and swipes the suit away from him as he said: "About time." As Alex examines his suit, Albert then said: "Anyway. The most important thing to know is that the princess is going to be attending the party, which is your opportunity to impress her." Upon hearing that, Charlie said: "The princess is coming to the party?" Albert then said: "Of course. Though I don't know why that info is important to you, since you can't come to the party." Hearing that had caused Charlie to feel depressed for a bit.

But then Alex proceeds to say: "Gh… Maybe it would be better if I should have kept the rose…" Hearing that causes Albert to say: "Hold it, Alex. I've heard that a suit with a feather would often get the best results." This causes Alex to look at his father and say: "Yes… But that would also mean that there would be other bachelors with feathers on their suits. If I want to stand out and impress the princess, I need to make sure that I got the right style." Max then sarcastically said: "In that case, why don't you ask Charlie to change it. After all, you've been using him six times now. I'm sure he can do it again for the seventh time." While this doesn't help Charlie, Alex then said: "True, but what if I'm wrong? What if they don't have feathers… Gah… If only I knew what they would be wearing…" This causes Albert to stand up and said: "That's enough, Alex. You shouldn't worry about the small details on your suit. Leave those things to me. Besides, we don't have much time for Charlie to go and change them into roses. We need to get going now." But Alex then said: "Just hold on…" This causes Alex to panic as he looks around until he spots Charlie. Then he gets an idea as he walks up to Charlie and says: "Say, Charlie. Would you like to come to the party with us?" Hearing that surprises him as Charlie said: "Really… You mean it?" And Alex then said: "Of course. We'll let you come to Dan's house." Hearing that shocks both Albert and Max as Albert said: "Alex! What are you even saying?!" Alex then looked at his father and said: "I'm saying that we can bring him to the party, father." He then looked at Charlie and said: "So, you want to come?" This causes Charlie to say: "Of course. Just give me a minute to change." But Alex then said: "Don't worry. What you're wearing is already good enough for you." And while Charlie looks surprised, Albert and Max start to smile as they realize Alex's real reason.

Back in the castle. Scarlet took a peek through the door and sees Maximillian standing in the hallway. After she closes the door, Maria said: "Is he still out there?" Scarlet turns around and nodded at her, which confirms her suspicions. After all, she heard from earlier that her hunting team was told to take a day off today, which prevents her and Scarlet from leaving and go out on a hunting trip. Maria then said: "Then you better look outside, Scarlet." Scarlet then heads over to the window and looks out to see Lucard standing around outside. This convinced Scarlet that they won't let Maria leave the castle through other means and they'll bring her to Dan's party through any means necessary. Scarlet then said: "They're everywhere." Scarlet then looks at Maria and said: "This is no good. It looks like you'll have to go to his party after all." This worries Maria as she believes that Emily would use this opportunity to manipulate her into marry Dan. But then, Maria had an idea as she said: "You know… Maybe we should let the princess go to the party." This confuses Scarlet as she said: "Huh? You mean you're planning on going to the party after all?" But Maria then said: "No, Scarlet. I said that we should let the princess go to the party, but they never mention which "princess" should go to the party." Upon hearing that, Scarlet realizes what Maria's plan is.

Meanwhile. Charlie is in the carriage with his family as he is excited that he is finally going to a party. And while it is nice to be able to meet the princess again after seeing her during the time Max was lost in the forest, he is glad enough to join in and help celebrate a birthday party. Charlie then looks and sees a fabulous house from a distance. Once the carriage arrives at the house, the family leaves the carriage as they look at the house, with Alex saying: "Oh man. My legs are trembling from all of this excitement." But Albert then said: "Calm down, Alex. We're going in." As they walk to the entrance, Charlie tries to follow them. But then he gets stopped by Alex as he said: "Hold it, Charlie. I need you to stay in the carriage and wait for us." While this shocks and confuses Charlie as Alex walks off, Max then said: "Man… I can't believe that you didn't even realize it. Alex said that you can come to the party, but he never mentions anything about joining him at the party. Besides, the only reason why he would bring you here is to make a change into his suit. Why else would we take you to the party?" As Charlie gets depressed as Max laughs while joining the others, Albert looks behind him and said: "And while you're at it, take good care of Jen and Ruby. Got it?" Even though Charlie is feeling depressed, he can't help but say: "Yes… Father…"

Inside the house. The guests are enjoying the party as they love the environment that they're in. They're even enjoying the meals that the servers are providing as they not only wait for the special man of the honour on his birthday, but they're also waiting for the special guest to make her appearance at the party. Eventually, Duchess Emily makes her appearance at the top of the stairs as she said: "Pardon me, everyone. I would like to welcome you all to this fine establishment. I am pleased that you would all join me in celebrating my son's birthday." The guest then turns and hears Emily's speech. While outside, Charlie is sitting in the carriage as he is still feeling depressed from not being able to take part in the party, while Jen and Ruby are laying on the carriage's floor. As they lay there, the two looks at each other as the two believe that there's a fracture in the area. After all, these two used to be the best of friends and are loyal to Albert. But when Ruby learns that Jen is actually spending her time hanging out with the two that don't deserve fame and fortune, she feels that she has betrayed Albert. Though Ruby also believes that Jen is losing her pride. Although Jen wonders if Ruby will cause more harm to Charlie since Albert's pride is blinding him and worries that Ruby might not see it.

Back inside. After Emily finishes with her speech, she then said: "With that said, I would like to introduce you to my son, Dan. The boy who's birthday we're celebrating." After hearing that, the crowd starts to cheer as Dan makes his appearance. Among the crowds are Albert and his sons as they are cheering out of respect for Emily. But then Alex notices rather quickly at what's wrong. And that Dan's suit has a feather sewed it into his suit. Max also notices this as he whispers to Alex: "Oh boy, you are in deep trouble now. If the crowd were to see you and Dan together, they'll all accuse you of stealing his style. And if that were to happen, she'll probably kick you out of the party and you'll never be able to meet the princess at the party." This causes Alex to panic as his worst fears are realized. Not wanting to get caught, Alex quickly moves away from the crowd as he leaves the lobby, while Max starts to laugh quietly as he knows that she won't kick him out of the party, just for having the same style as Dan. It was in fact, a simple scare on his part to ensure that Alex is made to look like a fool.

Back in the carriage. Alex has already handed Charlie his suit as Charlie is busy changing the decor of the suit to a rose as he said: "Okay, it should be done soon." Alex then said: "Yeah, well you better hurry. If the princess were to come and see me in this, I'm going to blame this all on you." While Charlie tries to get through this, the thread gets pulled by a bored Ruby. This causes Charlie to look at Ruby and said: "Knock it off, Ruby. We'll play later. Now's not a good time." But Alex is losing his patient as he then said: "Stop playing with Ruby and hurry up with the suit!" As Charlie looked at Alex and said: "Hold on, I'm doing the best as-" He then spotted something from the distance as Alex then said: "Now what…" Charlie then said: "Look behind you, Alex." This confuses Alex as he said: "Huh? What are you talking-'' But when he looked behind him, he saw what Charlie was staring at. And that is the royal carriage heading to the house. This excites Alex as he said: "She's here! I better take a closer look!" As Alex proceeds to leave the carriage, Charlie said: "Hold on, let me come to." Alex then looked behind him and said: "Fine. But hurry up and stay quiet." Charlie nodded as he left the carriage and followed Alex. The two then reach the edge of the hedge bush as they peak over and sees the royal carriage. And then a few seconds later, the two are quick to be amazed that the princess is exiting the royal carriage. While this excites them, what really captures their attention is the mask that she is wearing as Alex said: "Wow… Even when she wears a mask, she is still beautiful." "Yeah… She still is…" Charlie said as she stared at the princess. And while it would be sad that he won't enjoy the party, he is at least happy to at least see the princess.

Back inside. The crowds are enjoying the party when the princess enters the lobby while carrying a bouquet of flowers. The crowd then sees her and starts chatting within themselves as while some can't believe that the duchess has managed to bring the princess in on his birthday, some of the others also believe that the rumours about the princess wanting to marry Dan is actually true. Eventually, the princess makes her way down the small stairs as the crowd, including duchess Emily and Dan bow to her as she makes her way to Dan. Once the princess gets in front of Dan, Dan lifts his head as she said: "I would like to wish you a happy birthday, Dan. Allow me to give you these flowers as a small token." As the princess passes the flowers to Dan, he said: "I thank you for this lovely gift, from the bottom of my heart." As the crowd looks up and sees the two of them happy, Alex manages to sneak past the crowd and join both Albert and Max within the crowd. Upon seeing that, Emily then said: "My dear guests. I would like to introduce the princess to the party. Now let us go to the garden, where you can find nourishment and refreshments at the tables."

In the garden. The guests are enjoying the views of the garden as well as enjoying the meal that Emily provided and her servers are offering. As Emily checks things in the garden, she sees the princess and Dan are getting along just fine, just as she planned. Though what captures her attention is the mask that she is wearing. She then saw Maximillian and whispered to him: "While I'm glad that you managed to bring her here, I must ask… Why is she wearing that mask?" This stumps Maximillian as he whispers back: "To tell you the truth. I am confused about this as much as you, duchess." "Why am I wearing this mask?" The princess said as she heard the two whispered. As the two looked at the princess, the princess then said: "I heard that it's a tradition for princesses to be wearing masks at birthday events." This causes Emily to say: "I see… Well, I must inform you that it's not true. It's only tradition for them to wear masks during a masked ball." But then the princess said: "I see. But that is of little importance to me." The princess then proceeds to grab one of the drinks that a server is carrying as she heads into the crowd as they bowed their heads to her. This causes Emily to be a little suspicious, but she figures as long as the princess is focused on Dan, things should be fine.

Nearby. Charlie is watching the party happening from the other side of the bushes as he knew that waiting at the carriage would not only make him more depressed, but it would also bore him. As he watches the party guests having a good time with themselves, he remembers the times that he used to have when his parents take him to the parties from all over. Though that was when his old father was alive. "I see that you have to wait for them as well." Said an unknown female voice. Curious, Charlie looks over and sees a Vespiqueen in front of him as he sees that she has a small plate of a slice cake. The Vespiqueen then proceeds to say: "I also have to wait outside. But I know that waiting outside with an empty stomach is much worse. So please have this." She then passes the plate to Charlie before proceeding to leave as she said: "Goodbye." As Vespiqueen proceeds to leave, Charlie said: "Wait. I want to-" But before he could have the chance, she already left the area as Charlie then said: "Huh… I wonder who she is…" Nearby, Cinder teleports herself behind some bushes as she looks at Charlie while saying to herself: "Don't mind me, I'm just checking up and see how you are doing."

As the night sky shines over the house. The party continued as the guest moved in from the gardens to the main lobby. While the party continues, Charlie is laying behind a tree as he watches the night skies as he waits for the party to be over. But then he hears a musical melody nearby as he gets up and said: "What the… Where is this lovely music coming from?" As he heads to the source of the music, he hears the lovely music. Though he also heard a bit of sadness to the melody as he wonders if the musician is sad. But then as he moves around a tree, he discovers the Vespiqueen from earlier as she is playing on her violin. Vespiqueen then noticed Charlie and said: "Oh. Hello again." Charlie then said: "Yeah. I didn't know that you are a professional musician." The Vespiqueen then said: "Of course. I'm set to play with the band later, so I'm practicing here to make sure that my violin is working. But where are my manners. My name is Elizabeth." Charlie then said: "And my name is Charlie. I was wondering if you could play your music again. I would love to hear it." Elizabeth then said: "Of course." She then proceeds to play on her violin as Charlie hears the melody from before as he listens to the same wonderful melody as before. Nearby, Cinder teleports from behind the bush as she spots an Gallade hiding behind the tree and staring at Elizabeth.

Once the melody ends, Charlie proceeds to say: "Wow… That was amazing." Elizabeth then bows as she said: "Thank you." She then proceeds to say: "Oh, I must be going now. I'm expected to be with the band soon." Elizabeth then proceeds to leave as Charlie then said: "Good luck, Elizabeth." "Um… Excuse me, sir." Said an unknown male voice behind him as Charlie turns around and sees a Gallade in noble's clothing. The Gallade then said: "Um… I didn't mean to intrude, but I must ask. Do you… Do you know her?" This confuses Charlie as he said: "Well I just met her this morning." The Gallade then said: "I see… For a second, I was worried that I was going to lose her to you." This confuses Charlie even more as he said: "Lose her to me? What do you mean?" The Gallade then starts to blush as he said: "Well… It's just that… I…" Seeing the Gallade blushes as he tries to sentence his words, Charlie realizes what he meant as he said: "Oh… I see. You love her, do you?" The Gallade then looked embarrassed as he said: "Y-Yeah… I do…" Then the Gallade clears his throat as Charlie then said: "I see. But if you do love her, why don't you tell her." Then the Gallade said: "Believe me, I have. And she does love me. Unfortunately, my parents won't let me be with her. They say that she's not fit for me and I should maintain my "purity" life." "Purity?" Charlie asked as he has no idea why his parents would refuse to let him be with someone. The Gallade then said: "I don't know… But I was hoping that…" Realizing what he means, Charlie said: "I got it. I won't steal Elizabeth from you, sir." The Gallade then smiles as he said: "Thank you." As Gallade leaves, he then turns around and said: "Oh, that reminds me. My name is Roberto." "I'm Charlie. And it's nice to meet you, Roberto." Roberto smiles as he hurries back to the party.

As the party continues inside. Elizabeth is playing her violin with the band as the guest dances to the melody. And while the guest continues to dance, Roberto leans back as he watches Elizabeth playing her violin. Outside. Charlie is still figuring out what Roberto meant by "purity" as he said to himself: "I wonder what Roberto meant by "purity"..." "What are you going on about?" Said a rather familiar voice. Charlie then looks over and sees Maria as he said: "Oh. Hello Maria. What are you doing here?" Maria then proceeded to sit down next to Charlie and said: "Well, I was just minding my own business when I heard this music. I figured I would drop by and see what's going on." Charlie then said: "I see… Well if you must know, there's a birthday party going on for Dan." He then stood up and looked at the window and said: "And right now, the princess is dancing with him right now." Maria then stands up and looks into the window to see that the princess is dancing with Dan as Maria says to herself: "I wonder how Scarlet is going to get out of this situation." "Huh? What did you say?" Charlie said as Maria quickly said: "Oh! Uh, nothing." As it turns out, the princess that's dancing with Dan is not Maria at all. It's actually Scarlet with her shapeshifting skill as she's disguised herself as Princess Maria. Although, her shapeshifting skills aren't perfect as it would often show a part of her real self. Which is why she has the mask on to cover her upper face.

Charlie then said: "Anyway… With the way that the two have been interacting with each other, I think that they would get married. Wouldn't you agree?" Maria then said: "No, I don't think so." This confuses Charlie as Maria then said: "You see, as princes… I mean… The princess would never marry some random guy unless she has very strong feelings towards a guy that he liked. She would never marry someone over convenience or status." This surprises Charlie as he then remembers the situation between Roberto and Elizabeth and Roberto's parents as he then said: "You say that, yet there are some people who can't get together over social status or something to do with "purity"." Maria then said: "If their love is strong enough, they can overcome any obstacle in their way." This surprises Charlie as he said: "So you really believe that true love can exist?" Maria then smiles back at Charlie as she said: "Of course I do." This surprises Charlie as he said: "Wow… For once, we've actually agreed on something." The two then spend their time together, until they hear Emily said: "My fellow guests." Causing the two to look inside. Inside, Emily then said: "As the lovely birthday party is drawing its end, I think the princess would like to share a few words." The crowd then proceeds to cheer for the princess as she clears her throat. But then she heard Emily saying: "I believe that you have something to say to my lovely son. But before that, would you mind removing your mask first?"

The princess starts to get scared as the other guests are excited to see her face. Outside. Charlie gets excited to see the princess's face as Maria realizes that Scarlet is in danger. Back inside. The princess is starting to sweat as within the crowd, Max said: "I wonder why she's hesitating?" Alex then said: "Yeah. She's keeping us in suspense." But while that's going on, Cinder teleports on top of the staircase as she said: "It looks like Maria needs my help. While she can't do much in the light, I'll give her a clear path in the dark." Then with a flick of a wrist, she cast a spell to blow the fire on the chandelier, turning the room into a dark place. This causes the crowd to panic as Emily quickly said: "Stay calm, everyone! It's probably just a draft!" Max then said: "Father, I'm scared!" While Albert said: "It's just the light, Max…" Outside. Charlie and Maria are confused when the lights went out as Charlie said: "What happened? Why did the lights go out?" But then Maria quickly realized an opportunity as she said: "Yeah, it's rather odd…" But at that point, she quickly ducks down and sneaks away from Charlie as she sneaks inside. Once she gets inside, she quickly sneaks past the crowd and reaches "the princess" as she quietly said: "Scarlet. It's me, Maria. We got to hurry and changed back." "The princess" recognized her voice as she removed her mask and said: "About time. A minute longer and I would cause an even more panic than before."

A few minutes later. The flames on the chandelier suddenly came back as it lit the room, much to the confusion of the crowd as among them, Alex said: "Okay… This is rather bizarre…" Max then said: "Yeah, it's quite freaky." Albert then said: "Even I must admit that it's rather strange." As the crowd gets even more confused, they heard a voice saying: "Is everyone okay?" They turned to the source and discovered that it's none other than Princess Maria. This surprises not only the guests but also Dan and Emily as she said: "Oh. Your highness. I see that you've actually honoured us by removing your mask." Even though Emily believed that she could be a fake, seeing her throws her theory out as she believes that it was a simple miscommunication on their part. Emily then said: "Now then. I would like to thank you for attending our party. And my lovely son is waiting to hear what you have to say." As Dan is getting excited, Maria proceeds to say: "It was wonderful to be attending your party, Dan." Dan then bows his head as he said: "You are too kind, your highness." Maria then proceeds to say: "I would like to thank you, Duchess Emily, for inviting me to your son's birthday. But I must get going now. Goodnight." Hearing that shocked everyone as she proceeded to leave the room while Dan said: "Wait! Princess Maria! Do you really not have anything else to say?!" As the guests see Maria leaving, it convinces the crowd that she doesn't have any interest in Dan as they proceed to leave. This causes Emily to say: "Here I thought I could persuade you to be with my son, but it appears that I was wrong. I'll make you pay for embarrassing my son." In a fit of anger, she breaks the glass that she was holding.

Outside. Charlie saw the whole event as he said: "Wow… You were right. She's not interested in him at all. Maybe the princess does believe in true love after all. Right, Mari… A…?" He then turned and saw that Maria was gone, which confused him as he stood up and said: "Maria? Maria?" Charlie then proceeds to examine the area to see if there are any signs of her leaving the area with no success. _I don't get it… Why would she leave without saying goodbye? She's rather strange…_ He then recalls the words that Maria said about true love conquering all obstacles as he hears the same sad melody as before. He then looks out and sees Elizabeth playing her violin on the hill as well as a carriage riding off on the pavement as Roberto looking at her with a sad look in his face. Seeing that from the distance, Charlie realizes what she meant as he said: "Don't worry, you guys. I'm pretty sure that true love will help bring you together."


	11. What I'll do to give them a fantastic s-

**What I'll do to give them a fantastic story**

After the events of Dan's birthday, Charlie is in the town of Espérer with Zeus and Jen to go and collect some supplies for Albert and his sons. But as they go to fetch the supplies, Charlie can't help but remember both Elizabeth the Vespiquen and Roberto the Gallade at the party and how Roberto's parents won't let the two get together. This causes Charlie to say: "I can't believe that they didn't say goodbye…" "Who didn't say goodbye?" Said a rather familiar voice, causing Charlie to turn to the source and find Maria laying on her side on a small wall as she was eating a bag full of berries. This surprises Charlie as he said: "Maria? How are you." But then Charlie remembers how she disappeared yesterday as he then said: "On another note. Where were you yesterday? You just up and disappeared on me." This causes Maria to sit up as she gives a smile as she then said: "Aw… What's wrong? Did you miss me?" This causes Charlie to blush as he said: "N-No… Of course not…"

Charlie then explains the situation to Maria about Elizabeth and Roberto and how he met the two. After hearing all of that, Maria then said: "You serious?" Charlie then said: "Of course. Roberto even said that his parents won't let him marry her as they want him to continue with his "purity" life." This confuses Maria as she said: ""Purity?" What does that even mean?" And Charlie then said: "I don't know… And even Roberto doesn't know what it means…" But then he saw that Maria was distracted by something as Charlie said: "Huh? What's wrong, Maria?" But then he starts to hear the music that Maria was listening to. In fact, it's the same melody that he heard from yesterday. This causes the two to turn to the source of the melody and sees a flight of stairs that leads to an alleyway with a store to the right. This causes them to go down the flight of stairs and look into the window and see Elizabeth the Vespiquen practicing on her violin. But then Elizabeth stops playing when she spots the two as Charlie waved and said: "Hello, Elizabeth." Seeing Charlie really surprises her.

After Elizabeth and Maria got acquainted, they made their way back up the stairs as they sat at some benches as Elizabeth said: "I take it you two heard my melody. Be honest, you didn't like it, do you?" But Charlie quickly said: "No, no. You were wonderful." But Elizabeth starts to blush as she said: "Oh, you're too kind." Maria then said: "I can imagine that your music can attract a lot of noblemen." Elizabeth then proceeds to say: "I wish that was true. But I do know that Roberto's family would want nothing to do with me…" Hearing that, Charlie then proceeds to say: "Hey… If there's anything that you need, feel free to let us know." While Elizabeth is glad to hear that, the sudden sounds of a stomach growling as they all quickly realize that it came from Elizabeth's stomach. As Elizabeth grasps her stomach, Zeus and Jen start to giggle over it. Though Charlie wasn't having any of it as he said: "Hey, knock it off you two." This causes the two to head off and give them space. After that, Elizabeth then said: "Sorry about that… I haven't eaten anything since the receptionist." This causes Charlie to take the bread that he was going to have for lunch out of the basket and said: "Here, take this." Elizabeth is surprised by his gesture as she said: "Really? You mean it?" Charlie then said: "Of course. After all, you did share a slice of cake with me earlier." This causes Elizabeth to smile as she takes the bread from Charlie and starts to eat it while saying: "Thank you…" But then she starts to get depressed as he notices and said: "What's wrong?" Elizabeth then said: "It's just that… I have to spend the last of my gold in order to replace the strings on my violin…"

Nearby. While Charlie, Maria and Elizabeth are talking, Zeus and Jen manage to spot Cinder and make their way to her. Cinder sees them as she smiles and said: "Why, hello there you two." As she proceeds to start drawing the two, Zeus said about who was this Roberto that they were talking about and Jen replied that while she doesn't know, she did mention that she heard a song playing and saw a carriage leaving the party yesterday. Just as Cinder was drawing a sketch of them and was about to say something, she heard Elizabeth saying: "Well thank you. But I must hurry and get back to my practice." As Elizabeth leaves, Charlie and Maria look at her as he said: "Goodbye, Elizabeth." Charlie then looked behind him and said: "Okay Zeus and Jen, we've got to get going now." Zeus and Jen then looked at each other as Jen asks if Charlie ever talks this much and Zeus said that while he doesn't know, he knows that he would go deaf if he does talk that much. Charlie then made his way towards the two and said: "Hey, you two. You shouldn't go and bother her."

Charlie then looked at Cinder and said: "I'm sorry if they were bothering you, miss." And Cinder proceeds to say: "Oh, they weren't bothering me. In fact, they were keeping me company while I was drawing them." "You were?" Charlie said as he goes over and looks at her drawing as Maria heads on over and sees that she drew a sketch of both Zeus and Jen. Maria then said: "It is a pretty good drawing, miss." And Cinder said: "You can call me Cinder. I don't mind it." After learning about her name, Charlie then said: "Okay. I'm Charlie and this is Maria. And these two are Zeus and Jen." This causes Cinder to smile as she said: "It's nice to meet you and your friends." Charlie then looked at Cinder's drawing as he said: "Well… I have to say that the art is good… But it's just a simple drawing of Zeus and Jen." But Cinder then proceeds to say: "While it looks like a simple drawing, if you look at it from a different perspective, you can see details that you haven't noticed before." "If I look at it from a different perspective?" Charlie said as he was confused by Cinder's words. But when he thinks about it, he realizes what she meant and knows how to help Roberto and Elizabeth get together. And it looks like he'll need to get a certain clairvoyant's help.

As the night skies shine, the sounds of melody can be heard. As it turns out, the melody is coming from Elizabeth's violin as she plays on the bandstand. As she plays her violin, she hears footsteps near her. She looked around as she saw Roberto heading towards her. This causes her to stop playing her violin and goes up to him as the two embraces each other as Roberto said: "Oh, Elizabeth. It's been so long since we met." This causes Elizabeth to giggle, but then they heard barking nearby. This causes the two to quickly hide in the bush to avoid getting caught by the guards. Once they see the guards gone, they make their way back to the bandstand as they watch the stars. These two would come here and hang out with each other behind Roberto's parents. And even though the two knew that they love each other, it is an ongoing battle to try and convince his parents. Eventually, Roberto got up and headed towards the small dock, which confused her as she said: "What are you doing, Roberto?" Roberto then proceeds to stand on his toes as he reaches for the skies as he said: "I saw some stars that match your eyes. And I must get them all for you, Elizabeth." As Roberto gets on his one leg, Elizabeth watches as she worries for his safety. But then, Roberto ends up slipping and falling into the pond. After the splash, Elizabeth looks at the wet Roberto, which causes the two to laugh over this funny moment. Though this causes Elizabeth to get up and goes up to him as she jumps onto the surprised Roberto as the two get wet. With the two in the pond, the two start to laugh as they remember the time when they were together.

A few years ago, Elizabeth is with a band as they play their music to a banquet party for the party-goers in the mansion. Among them, is Roberto as he listens and watches the band from the upper stairway as he watches Elizabeth. And even though they were there to entertain the guests with their music, he can't help but be fascinated by Elizabeth and her way of music. But while that's going on, one of the guests was looking at Roberto, before proceeding to close the door and said: "It looks like that son of yours is eyeing that musician that you hired…" As the guest joins in with the other guests in the room with Roberto's parents, Roberto's father proceeds to say: "Yes… I see that. But his destiny shall lie with the princess. And once she is at a proper age, he'll continue our purity lifeline when he marries the princess." Once the music's over, Roberto asks Elizabeth over to a separate room so they can spend some time together. And once they are together, they manage to get along as they bond together. But just as Roberto handed Elizabetha a rose as a sign of love, eight servants entered the room and proceeded to grab both Roberto and Elizabeth. As Roberto is held back by the four servants, the other four servants are dragging the struggling Elizabeth away from the room. After they drag Elizabeth out of the house, they throw her to the ground as they close the gates in front of her as she starts to cry over why she was thrown out of the house.

Back at the present. As the sun starts to rise, the two are relaxing on the bandstand as Elizabeth said: "Why does your father believe in this "purity" life more than true love?" And Roberto said: "I do not know. But I pray that he can let us be together." Elizabeth then sees the sun as she said: "It's almost morning now. You better head back home or your parents will find out that you escaped." The two then get up as Roberto said: "I know… But for every moment that we're separate, the more painful my heart is." And Elizabeth proceeds to say: "Do not worry. You know that I will come to meet you every day. All I'm asking is for you to be safe." She then proceeds to kiss Roberto on the cheek as a sign of good luck. This causes Roberto to blushes as he rubs his cheek, before smiling as he nods his head before heading back home. As she sees him going home, she waves goodbye to him. But then she hears a stick breaking as she quickly turns around and sees a cloaked old man with a crystal ball and another cloaked man with a mask. Inside Roberto's house, Roberto manages to sneak back into his room and quickly changes out of his wet clothing and stuffs them at the bottom of his basket to avoid suspicions. But after he's done that, he spots a Persian outside, which causes a spook out of him. But then his attention is focused on the letter that the Persian has as it drops it on the patio's floor before leaving the patio. Curious, he went over to pick up the letter as he said: "What do we have here…" Roberto then proceeds to read what's inside the letter.

Back outside. As it turns out, the ones that Elizabeth saw were actually Charlie and his friends Tony and Capra. As Charlie explains the situation to Elizabeth, they plan on using Tony and Capra's gift to persuade Roberto's parents to get their permission to let Roberto marry Elizabeth. He even managed to get Jen to help deliver the letter to Roberto so he can know what the plan is. They even managed to provide Elizabeth with her own cloak and mask so that she can pose off as one of the famous clairvoyant's servants so as to avoid getting caught by Roberto's parents. As they make their way to the house, Elizabeth said: "Are you sure that it will get them to give Roberto permission to marry me, Charlie?" This causes Charlie to say: "Of course. Tony is happened to be the most famous clairvoyant around here. I believe that once they'll listen to him, they know that letting Roberto marry you would be the right thing to do." He then looked at Tony as he said: "Right?" And Tony then proceeds to say in his old man's voice: "I'll only tell them what I see in the crystal ball." Hearing that causes Charlie to say: "Tony. We're here to help get Roberto and Elizabeth together." This causes Tony to remove his mask as Capra crawls out from near Tony's neck as they look at Charlie and said: "Yeah, we know."

They then make their way to the house as both Elizabeth and Charlie proceed to put on their masks as Tony knocks on the door. After a while, the door opens as they see a Hitmonchan in a suit as he said: "What do you want?" Tony then said in his old man's voice: "Y-You see… We were summoned here to give the masters of this mansion a sight into the future." This causes the Hitmonchan to say: "Then I must let you know that I have no knowledge of your claim." "Stand down." Said Roberto. This causes the Hitmonchan to turn around and sees Roberto heading down the stairs as he then said: "I had one of my workers to go out and find that Clairvoyant. I wanted them to give me a sighting of the future with my parents so they'll know who's right. I want you to go and bring my parents over to see the sighting." And while the Hitmonchan gave Roberto the stink eye, he then said: "As you wish, sir."

As both Charlie and Elizabeth set up the room for Tony and Roberto, the Hitmonchan enters the room with both a Gallade and a Gardevoir entering the room as the Gallade said: "Roberto. What's the meaning of this?" Roberto then turned around and said: "Father, Mother. This is the famous clairvoyant that people were talking about in the town. I had him brought over here so he can determine what my future is going to be." This causes the Gardevoir to say: "But Roberto, my sweetie. We already know what your future is going to be." Roberto's father then said: "She's right, Roberto. Your future is to be with the princess and continue your purity lifeline." But then Tony proceeds to say: "Yes… I heard the disagreements between the two of you. But in order to determine if either of your visions is true, I will need to examine the future." Roberto's parents then proceed to look at each other before Roberto's father looks at Tony and says: "Very well. Do what you must, clairvoyant."

With the room set up, Tony proceeds with his usual clairvoyant business as the fog appears from the crystal ball, though Charlie wonders if it's something that Tony uses or it's all Capra's work. Just as the fog covers the room, Tony proceeds to say: "Wait! I'm seeing something!" Just then, the fog forms into a female-like figure with music notes above it as Tony then said: "I see a lady in the vision…" And as Roberto's mother said: "Is it the princess?" Tony then said: "I do not know, but apparently, she's surrounded by a melody." Roberto then said: "Is it possible that this lady is playing a violin?" And Tony then said: "It is a possibility…" But the fog tears through the female-like figure fog as Tony then said: "But then something happened that tried to pull her away. But there is a way to be together…" Then the fogs form to show the sun and mimic's the light shining as Tony then said: "And that's if you managed to cross the path to the light with her. And when that happens, you shall achieve your true happiness." _What are Tony and Capra doing?_

But then they heard a snap as the curtains opened, thus removing the fog from the room. This causes Roberto to turn around and see his parents as Roberto's father said: "We have seen enough. Escort them out of our house." The Hitmonchan bowed his head as he said: "Right away, sir." As he went over to the door, Roberto said: "Hold on, didn't you see what the clairvoyant showed, father?" And Roberto's father said: "It's pretty much obvious. You were destined to be with the princess at the ball. And you will be with her to continue your purity lifeline." Upon hearing that, Roberto was shocked as Elizabeth turned around and quickly said: "Please wait." This causes Roberto's parents to go and look at Elizabeth as Roberto's father said: "And what do you want?" This causes Elizabeth to remove her mask as she said: "If I must say, I ask that you permit me to marry your son. While I know that I don't have a lot of money, I believe that I can make your son happy." Roberto then goes to comfort her as he said: "Please, father. We are truly in love." But this causes Roberto's mother to say: "No. That's out of the question." And this causes Roberto's father to say: "It doesn't matter if you are a noblewoman or not, you will not taint our son's purity with the likes of you." While this shocks the group, Roberto said: "But father…" But then Elizabeth gets grabbed from behind by a couple of servants as they dragged her away. Roberto tries to go after them, but he is grabbed by a couple of more servants as he said: "Let me go! Leave her alone!" And while that's going on, Charlie and Tony watch in horror as they now know what they meant by "purity".

Back at the main square. Charlie explains the situation with Maria at the fountain as Maria then said: "I see… Well, it's a shame that they didn't like your show." This causes Capra to get annoyed and Tony to say: "Show?! I only told them what we saw in the crystal ball." Tony then looked at Charlie and said: "Hey, Charlie. Who is this lady?" Charlie then said: "Oh, don't mind Maria. She usually has a habit of telling lies." Then Charlie looks over at Elizabeth as he says: "And I'm sorry about that, Elizabeth. I didn't think that they would act like that. I'm really sorry." But Elizabeth then said: "No, Charlie. It's my fault. I shouldn't have revealed my identity to them." Tony then said: "Yeah… Now I'm certain that they'll try and keep us away from Roberto as much as possible…" Elizabeth then said: "What am I supposed to do… What if they managed to get Roberto to marry the princess…" "Huh?!" Maria said as she wasn't informed that they planned on getting Roberto to marry her, though Charlie looked at Maria and said: "What are you worried about? It's not like they planned on marrying you." This causes Maria to laugh nervously as she said: "Right. Of course." Elizabeth then proceeds to say: "If they believe that Roberto would be happy to be with the princess, then I should let the princess be with him." But Charlie looks back at Elizabeth as he said: "Hold on. Roberto said that he loves you. He wants you to be his wife." And Tony then said: "He's right. And I'm positive that the crystal ball was talking about you in that vision." Elizabeth then said: "I know… But what can I do… I don't have a mansion or have a large fortune. And I can't provide him with any luxury gifts. The only thing that I have is my violin…"

"And do you believe that you need luxury gifts to please people?" Maria said, which captures the group's attention. Maria then said: "Have you heard about the legend of the Virizion?" While the others were silent, Charlie then said: "Actually… I remember you bringing me to this fountain before." Charlie then looks behind him and sees the older gentleman riding on the Virizion as he said: "Apparently, you told me that whoever stands in front of the statue would always tell the truth." Maria then nodded as she said: "That's right. And Elizabeth has told us her true feelings for Roberto. I'm pretty certain that fate would guide them together." This confuses Elizabeth as she said: "Fate would… Guide us…?" Maria then said: "Of course. There will be times when you would come across some serious trouble and desires that would haunt you. But despite all of that, it's up to us to determine what our fate is going to be. Do you get what I'm saying?" Elizabeth then said to herself: "So it's up to me…" Maria then said: "Yes. You and Roberto loved each other, so you have to show how much you want to be with him." Elizabeth then nodded as she said: "I see what you're saying. Thank you, Maria." This surprises both Charlie and Tony as Tony said: "Wow… That is quite a story to tell…" And Charlie nods as he agrees with his statement.

As the night skies are covered in vast rain, Roberto is sitting on his bed as he feels depressed. He looks over at the table and sees the tray of food covered in a large cloth as he doesn't feel like eating tonight. And ever since they found out about the two, his parents have prevented him from leaving his room, nor going out and meeting Elizabeth. Outside his room, Roberto's father tells his two servants: "And remember, my son is not allowed to leave this room under any circumstances. We cannot allow him to go and taint his purity." The two servants nodded as Roberto's father made his way to the main lobby. Back inside the room, Roberto continues to feel depressed until he hears a familiar melody. He then looks outside and sees Elizabeth playing her violin at the bandstand. Knowing that the guards would be looking for her and she'll be in danger, he hurries to the doors in an attempt to warn her. Unfortunately for him, the doors are barred by the servants to prevent his escape. He looks out and considers leaving through the window, but the height would cause him a serious injury that he couldn't recover from, thus leaving him trapped in his room.

In the study hall. As Roberto's father is reading a simple book, the sounds of windows breaking have broken his focus as he sees that someone tossed a rock into the window as he shouts out: "Who did that?!" Outside, Tony and Capra are hiding near some bushes as they see some guards running to the source of the broken window as he said: "Man… The things you do to help your friends, huh Capra." Capra nodded as they heard Roberto's father saying: "Go out there and find out who did this!" Upon hearing that, Tony said: "Looks like it's our cue to go." And with that, Capra proceeds to teleport the two out of there, just as the guards began their search. As the guards continue their search, Roberto's father realizes quickly of what's going on as he said: "No… They wouldn't… Roberto!" This causes Roberto's father to rush upstairs and enters Roberto's room… And sees that Elizabeth and Roberto are on the edge of the patio as Roberto's father said: "What do you think you're doing?!" Elizabeth then said: "I'm sorry, but we love each other too much." Roberto then said: "We have decided to get married without your approval, father." This caused Roberto's father to say: "Never! I won't let you taint your purity!" But Roberto's words go on deaf ears as the two proceed to leap from the patio…

And ends up landing on a haystack wagon that Maria and Charlie provided to comfort their fall. Roberto's father looks at the situation from the patio as Charlie proceeds to ride off with a Zebstrika in tow. And as the guards rushed over to the speeding wagon, Roberto's father said: "Hurry, you idiots! Get the saddles on those Rapidashes, now!" As the guards quickly rush over to the stables, Charlie continues to drive the wagon through the wet pathway. Along the way, Tony and Capra spot the wagon as it passed them as he said: "Good luck you guys!" Once the group managed to enter the forest area, Maria looked over to Charlie and said: "Okay, it looks like the coast is clear for now." Charlie nodded as he looked behind him and saw Zeus and Jen near Elizabeth and Roberto as Charlie said: "Zeus. Jen. Hurry and get rid of the wet hays or it'll slow us down." After Zeus lets out an acknowledge bark, the two proceed to scrape the hay out of the wagon to lighten the load.

But while that's going on. Roberto's father and his guards are hurrying to catch up to the wagon with their Rapidashes, while Roberto's mother is in the small carriage as the servant is driving the carriage to follow them. Eventually, Roberto's father and the guards managed to spot the wagon as they hurried to get close. At the wagon, Charlie continues to drive the wagon as Maria is on the lookout for any sign of trouble, while Roberto and Elizabeth are holding each other while gripping each other's hands as they go through the storm. But then Maria spots Roberto's father and the guards catching up to them and although she wants to warn Charlie, she knew that it would be dangerous if they rush now. But while Maria sees them getting closer, Charlie looks at Maria and says: "What's wrong, Maria?!" But at that point, the wagon gets hit by a rock on the ground and tilts the wagon, thus sending Maria, Charlie, Elizabeth, Roberto, Zeus and Jen in the air.

And when they landed on the ground, Charlie managed to catch Maria before they hit the ground just as Roberto did the same thing with Elizabeth. Once they landed on the ground, Charlie looked over and said: "Are you okay, Maria?" Maria nodded as she said: "Yeah… I'm fine…" She then looks over to Roberto and Elizabeth as she says: "And what about you two?" Roberto responded: "We're fine." But with the sounds of Rapidashes clopping, they knew that they needed to hurry. While that's going on, Zeus and Jen were sliding down the hill from the fall, only to stop near Cinder, much to their surprise. Cinder then said: "It looks like they need my help. But in order for me to do that, I shall need your help." Cinder then proceeds to cast the spell to transform Zeus from a Mightyena to a Scolipede, much to Jen's confusion. Cinder then looks up and sees the four struggling to get the Zebstrika to calm down as she said: "Hey! If you need a ride, I can let you use this Scolipede!" This causes the four to turn around and see her as Charlie said: "Cinder?!" Cinder then proceeds to get Zeus going as he climbs up the hill, allowing Roberto and Elizabeth to get on Zeus and ride off. And as Roberto's father and the guards go after them, Charlie and Maria manage to hide from them as they wait until they pass.

Roberto continues to ride on the Scolipede with Elizabeth in front as they ride through the forest and up the hill as Roberto's father follows him. Eventually, they made their way up to the rope bridge as Roberto stopped in front of the bridge as they saw that it's not in good condition. But this allows Roberto's father and the guards to catch up to them as he got off his Rapidash as he said: "Stop this foolishness, Roberto! That bridge is dangerous! Just come back home with me!" And while Roberto stared at his father, Elizabeth said: "If you want, Roberto… You can change your mind and return with your father." She then looked at Roberto and said: "Are you sure that you want me to be with you?" Roberto then proceeds to look at Elizabeth, before surprising Elizabeth by kissing her, before proceeding to say: "The moment that I lay my eyes on you, my mind is already made up."

They then start to cross the bridge as some of the guards try to go after them, but Roberto's father stops them as one of the guards said: "But sir. The bridge can't hold them." But Roberto's father already knows that as he said: "The only thing I can do is pray for their safety…" Roberto and Elizabeth continue to cross the bridge with the Scolipede as the bridge starts to wobble. Near the bottom of the hill, Charlie and Maria are watching them cross the bridge with a scared look on their faces as they hope that they cross. Back at the top of the hill, Roberto's mother finally catches up to them as she rushes over to Roberto's husband as she sees what's going on, though Roberto's father stops her from going over there. But as the two continue to cross over, the bridge's rope starts to break apart, much to the horrors of everyone. This causes Roberto's mother to look away from fear as Roberto's father does nothing but watches the Scolipede hurrying to get to the other side of the bridge and bring them to safety…

Back at the bottom of the hill, Cinder watches the catastrophe unfolding as she said: "Your determination for each other is strong, now let me guide you to your fate." She then casts the spell at the bridge, allowing the bridge to hold on as both Roberto and Elizabeth manage to cross the bridge safely, just as the bridge breaks apart completely. As Roberto's mother expects the worst as she cries on his shoulders, Roberto's father proceeds to say: "They made it." This causes Roberto's mother to look and see that they indeed made it. The two then start to cry as it was hard to see their son go on his own way as the sun breaks through the storm. Back at the bottom of the hill, Charlie and Maria saw the miracle as Charlie said: "Wow… Tony's vision did come true…" Maria then said: "Yup. They manage to bring fate together." Charlie then said: "If you managed to cross this path, true happiness shall happen… Yeah, I know that they'll be happy together." The two then looked at each other as Maria said: "Yup. I know that they found their true love." As they stare at each other, they notice that they were holding hands together. This causes the two to blush as they let go of their hands.

Meanwhile at the Lestorm's house. Albert, Alex and Max are enjoying their breakfast as Max said: "Say, father. Have you heard about the lord's son going out with a musician?" Albert then said: "Yes. And I even heard how he'll marry the violinist." Alex then said: "I wonder what he sees in her…" Max then said: "You wonder? I'm just glad we won't have to deal with him for the princess's hand in marriage. He can have that girl with no value." Alex then said: "Hey. I'm not complaining here. I'm just saying that it makes me wonder why he would marry someone who's not even a noble's birth." Meanwhile. Roberto and Elizabeth are going down the pathway as Elizabeth is playing a lovely melody while Roberto is hugging her. Elizabeth then said: "I wonder how we will start our wonderful lives together, Roberto…" And Roberto said: "We'll know once we get there. After all, our love will guide us in the future." And while they continue on with their lives, what they haven't realized is that the Scolipede their riding on is actually Zeus. And although Zeus would eventually manage to change back and returned home to Charlie, how he gets back is another story for a later time.


	12. It's nice to meet you, princess

**It's a pleasure to meet you, princess**

At the castle of Espérer. Princess Maria is summoned to the throne room to meet her parents. While she was hoping that it would be a simple chat, she already knew that it won't be as simple as her father and mother explained to her about the importance of being responsible and getting married. Once they are done with their explanation, Lionhart then proceeds to say: "So, daughter. What do you think?" Maria then said: "Honestly… I don't think that you would like what I have to say, father." Lionhart knows her daughter well as he said: "And that you believe that you are too young to marry anyone and that if you were to take on some responsibilities as a princess, there won't be any more amusements for you. Then you are right, we won't be happy with that answer." Oracle then said: "Tell me, Maria. Is there at least a few fine young men that you're interested in?" This causes Maria to think to herself as Charlie appears in her mind. While she could mention to her parents about Charlie, she believes that it would make things more difficult. Not only would she have to explain to her parents how she met him, but it could put a strain on being friends with Charlie. Though there's also the fact that Emily would put Charlie in danger if she finds out about him. Lionhart then proceeds to say: "Do you still have any interest in Duchess Emily's son, Dan?" This causes Maria to say: "No. I've hardly known him. I'm not ready to get married and I wish that you quit bringing it up." She then bows her head as she said: "Now if you excuse me." She then proceeds to leave the throne room as Oracle quickly gets up and said: "Wait, Maria." And Lionhart also stands up as he said: "You need to fulfill your-"

But at this point, Maria has already left the throne room. The two sit back down as Madam Nicole walks up to the two and said: "What did you expect? She made it pretty clear that she has no interest in Dan." Oracle then proceeds to say: "Yes… Perhaps she is too early for her to get married." But Lionhart then proceeds to say: "But it's the tradition in our family to marry someone at her age. And if that doesn't happen, it would put a strain on our allies and it would cause the citizens to get mad." Nicole then said: "I'm well aware of the situation, but you know that we can't force her to marry someone that she doesn't like." Lionhart then proceeds to say: "Yes, there's also that problem…" Oracle then proceeds to say: "Have you at least managed to find a suitable groom for her?" But Nicole then proceeds to say: "Unfortunately, I still haven't found a suitable groom." This causes Lionhart to sigh as he said: "I see… At this rate, we should expect the worst…"

"I wouldn't say that so soon, my lord." Nicole said. This causes both Oracle and Lionhart to look shocked as Oracle said: "What do you mean, Nicole?" Nicole then said: "While I haven't found a suitable groom, I have at least found some key locations on where I can find the groom for her." This causes Lionhart to say: "Really?! Then us, what can we do to help with your investigation." Nicole then proceeds to say: "It's pretty simple. I shall invite the people from different houses and observe the princess and see which groom captures the princess's heart." Upon hearing that, Oracle proceeds to say: "I see. Then we can let our daughter decide which man she will marry." Lionhart then proceeds to say: "In that case, we shall arrange a ball for our daughter. I want you to go and invite the people that you think is worthy to be our daughter's groom." This causes Nicole to bow her head as she said: "As you wish, my lord." But what they didn't know is that Duchess Emily is hiding behind some curtains and that she heard the whole thing as she knew that things are not going her way.

At the Lestorm's house. Charlie is busy bringing a large pot over to a small faucet so he can fill it up with water. As he is filling the pot with water, he sees Zeus and Jen running up to him as Charlie said: "Hey you two. Dinner is almost ready." With Charlie done filling the pot, he proceeds to grab the pot by the handle. But he trips on his foot and he almost loses the pot of water, though thankfully, Zeus and Jen manage to stop the pot by going underneath it. Charlie manages to get his footing as he said: "Phew… Thanks, guys." As he goes and grabs the pot from the two, he looks at the castle and imagines the princess. I wonder if the princess is enjoying the weather as much as I do. Charlie then proceeds to carry the pot inside as he looks at both Zeus and Jen as he says: "Anyway… I've got to go finish up. You two can go and have fun." Zeus lets out a bark as Charlie carries the pot inside the house. But what Zeus and Jen noticed is a royal carriage heading towards the house.

Inside the dining room. Charlie is setting up the dining room for Albert and Max when suddenly they heard Alex saying: "Father! Father!" Alex then enters the room with an open letter in his hand as he excitedly said: "You are not going to believe what I got, Father!" This confuses Albert as he said: "Alex? What are you talking about?" Charlie and Max are also confused as Max said: "Okay… My brother has officially lost it…" But then Alex starts to laugh as he proceeds to hug Max as he said: "Oh, Max…" This causes Max to say: "What's with you?!" This causes Alex to say: "You wouldn't be able to stand properly if you get to see this letter that contains an invitation to the princess's ball." As Max and Charlie quickly look at the letter to see what Alex is talking about, Albert said: "Did you say an invitation to the castle's ball?" As Albert walks up to the group, Max then proceeds to say: "He's right. It's an invitation for the ball that's coming up tomorrow." And Charlie then said: "And it says that the princess would reveal the fiance at the ball." This causes Alex to say: "In that case, I need to hurry and get my suit ready, father." This also causes Max to turn and look at Charlie as he said: "Can't you believe it, we're actually going to the ball." "Yeah!" Charlie said as he's happy that not only his name is on the letter, which would get him in the castle. But also he gets to meet the princess again.

The next day at the castle. Emily is pacing back and forward in her study room as she said to herself: "I must find a way… I must get that princess to marry my son. I can't let her choose anyone else. What is Nicole planning…" Lucard, who is sitting on a chair, proceeds to say: "If you're worried about this groom that Nicole found, I could send my men to take care of him." Nicole then looks at Lucard as she said: "And causing the king and queen to be suspicious of our actions? Besides, Nicole did say that she doesn't know who he is. Though even if she does, I know that she won't tell us." Lucid then proceeds to say: "Then in that case, what do you purpose that we should do?" As Emily continues her pacing when she looks out the window as she notices something, which causes her to smile as she says: "Actually… We won't be doing a thing." "Huh?" Lucard said as he got up from the seat and headed towards the window and saw what Emily was talking about. They saw the princess outside as Maximillian brought Dan over to her. Once Dan and the princess are together, Maximillian bows and take his leave.

At the castle's garden, princess Maria and Dan are walking down the path as they take in the views. Though in reality, princess Maria's true intention is to see if she can pry some info out of him about his mother and to see if he's a part of her plan to take over the kingdom. After a good distance, Dan proceeds to say: "So what was it that you want to ask me, princess?" Princess Maria then said: "Oh, nothing important. So don't worry. I was wondering if you usually have dinner with your mother, even when her work keeps her late at night." This causes Dan to say: "That's a strange question, princess." Princess Maria then said: "Well it's just that the work at the castle can be quite demanding and your mother usually spends so much time-" "I see. You're so thoughtful, princess. You were wondering if I'll be lonely without my mother." "Um… Yeah, that's what I meant." Princess Maria said. Dan then proceeds to say: "You shouldn't have to worry about me being alone. I've managed to learn to adapt to me being alone. The same thing that I enjoy with my mother when she's around, though that is often rare since she leaves early in the morning and comes back late at night. I can imagine that you get to see her more than I do." _I knew it… Emily is clearly up to something since she never stays late at the castle. Poor Dan… His own mother has been lying to her the whole time and he doesn't even know it. At least I know that he's not part of the ploy to take over the kingdom._ Dan then notices the princess's silence as he says: "What's wrong? Why so quiet?" This causes the princess to say: "O-Oh… Nothing." Once they reach the end of the garden, Dan then proceeds to say: "Well, I must get going now. But I'll see you at the ball soon." This confuses princess Maria as she said: "Huh? What ball? What are you talking about?" This causes Dan to say: "Oh, you jest princess. The ball that you're giving later. And at that point, you will announce your groom." "Oh really…" Princess Maria said as she knew who the culprit is that set up the ball without her knowledge.

In the throne room, Maria angry confronts her parents about the ball that she was forced into. Though Lionhart then explains: "It's too late to cancel the invitations, they're already sent out. We have to do it so you can take part in your duties in the kingdom. It was the only way for you to realize your duties." Though hearing that causes Maria to say: "I refused to even take part in your ball." But Oracle then said: "But you must go to the ball, Maria. If you don't, it would put a strain on the citizens. Besides, it's only a matter of time until you get married. And this ball would give you a chance to see which gentleman would interest you. However, if there isn't a gentleman that you see in the ball that interests you, then we shall respect your choice and wait until you find the right guy." Meanwhile, Dan is walking down the hall when he spots his mother walking down the hallway. This causes Dan to run up to her and say: "Mother, you are not going to believe it. But the princess actually asked me to talk about something important. And she did it in person." And although Emily knew, she acted surprised as she said: "Really? Then tell me, what did the two of you talk about?" This causes Dan to explain: "Well you see, we've actually just talked about you." This actually surprises Emily as she said: "Huh? What do you mean?" Dan then said: "You see, he asked me if you were away often. She must've been worried that I would be alone without you in the big mansion." While this confuses Emily, she then quickly said: "I-I see… How thoughtful of her. I should go and thank her for her concern." Dan then said: "Well I must get going now. I have to get ready for the ball, after all." But once he leaves the hall, Emily says to herself: "So… She's come to spy on me through my son… Well normally, I would plan my revenge…" But then she starts to smile as she then said to herself: "But fortunately for me… You've actually provided me with a golden opportunity to get my son to marry you, my "princess"."

In the town. There's a large crowd in the market district as the invitation to the ball that was handed to them yesterday. With families going into clothing stores as they find the perfect suit for their sons, noblemen looking for great attire to attract the princess and some of them looking for good clothing for a ball, things are quite busy for the stores. While all of this was going on, Cinder is walking down the street as she observes how frantic the town has become. While she was also invited to take part in the ball, she was planning on going to the ball with her simple dress, though that does leave her with some time to go and get some art supplies. But when she goes to her usual art store, she discovers that the store is blocked by a line of customers as they wait to enter the clothing store next door. This causes Cinder to pretty much say: "Oh my, this ball has sure got a lot of people excited."

Back at the Lestorm's house. Albert is simply enjoying his tea as his two sons are arguing as usual, with Alex saying: "There's no way that suit is going to fit you!" "Yes, it will! Father bought it just for me!" Max argues back as Alex then said: "That's not true! That suit belongs to me!" And as Max argues: "That suit clearly fits me-" Albert cuts the argument as he said: "That's enough you two." As the two brothers proceeded to look at his father, Albert then said: "I've carefully chosen the suits that best represent you at the ball, so I'm highly confident that the suits will fit the both of you." This causes the two brothers to look at each other, before proceeding to laugh as they sit back down. Max then proceeds to say: "Yeah… Though it'll be a shame that Charlie won't see us in our suits at the ball." Alex then said: "Yeah… And he really believes that he will be entering the ball." Albert then proceeds to say: "I would gladly take him along. But unfortunately, with the serious threat given to the kingdom, they have to lower the number of guests that can enter the castle. And despite my best efforts, Charlie is one of the guests to be cut from the list. And unless one of you is willing to hand over your invitation, Charlie would have to simply stay at home for the evening." In the kitchen. Charlie is busy making the family a small lunch for them as Zeus and Jen watch as they can't believe Albert's cruelty. After all, there was no serious threat at all as it was Albert's lie to fool Charlie when it's clear that Albert has no intention of taking Charlie at all. As Charlie sets up the plates, Zeus was looking at Charlie as Charlie said: "Oh, it's okay. It's not like the ball meant that much to me. Besides, I don't even have a proper suit on." While Zeus knows that Charlie is putting on a face to hide his true feelings, Charlie carries the plates upstairs as he said: "I have to get going now, I can't let them see how disappointed I am…" As Charlie leaves the kitchen, both Zeus and Jen look at each other as they wonder how they can help Charlie get into the ball.

Once the family had their small meal, they made their way to the carriage as Charlie went up to the carriage and said: "I hope that you have a wonderful time at the ball, father." Albert then looks at Charlie as he said: "Oh don't worry. I'm pretty confident that we will return as the victors in winning the princess's hand. And when that happens, I expect that you will make a feast that's fit for a prince." And as Charlie said: "Yes, sir." Alex then said: "The next time you'll see me, I shall be the groom for the princess." Though Max proceeds to say: "Yeah right! It's clear that I'm the groom for her!" This causes Alex to say: "Don't dilute yourself. I'm the one that's meant to be with the princess." Though Albert then proceeds to look at Charlie and says: "As for you, you can have the rest of the day off. With the ball going on, there's no need for anyone to work." Charlie then proceeds to step back as the carriage proceeds to drive off as Charlie watches. Once he sees the carriage is out of his view, he proceeds to say: "Man… How lucky… They get to go to the ball… I wish I get the chance to dance with the princess…" And at that moment, he heard a bark from Zeus, which caused Charlie to turn around and see both Zeus and Jen.

At the castle. Lionhart, Oracle and Nicole are watching the guests entering the castle's ground as Oracle said: "You know, Nicole. You managed to bring in quite the turnover with the guests. I'm sure that this is an ideal place for our daughter to find the groom." Nicole then said: "Of course, your highness. I shall accompany the princess and make sure that she finds the right man for herself." But then, they heard the door knock nearby as the three looked behind themselves as they saw Emily as she said: "Pardon me for interrupting, but I was hoping that I would like to give an announcement." This causes Lionhart to say: "And what announcement would that be?" Oracle then said: "Is there something wrong, Emily?" And Emily proceeds to say: "On the contrary, the engagement with Princess Maria and Dan is going well." Hearing that shocked the three as Oracle said: "Maria is engaged with Dan?!" And Emily then said: "Of course. I guess she doesn't want to cause any trouble by cancelling the ball, but your daughter had recently proposed to my son and he accepted." While that's going on, Maria is walking down the hall as she's given some thought about it and decided to take part in the ball. But before she enters the throne room, she hears her father saying: "Are you sure, Emily?" Curious, she leaned against the wall as she heard Emily saying: "I'm positive. Earlier, your daughter asked my son to go on a walk. And during their walk, she proposed and he accepted." This causes Maria to get angry as she storms into the room and exposes her lies. Unfortunately for her, Emily spots her as she stops Maria and says: "Ah, Princess Maria. I was just sharing the news of your engagement with my son." But as Maria said: "What are you talking about?! I'm-" Emily quickly whispered to Maria: "We need to talk privately. After all, we don't want any "damaging" info exposed… Right?" This causes Maria to get angry as Emily said: "Come, Princess Maria. We don't want to bore them with details about the marriage."

And as Emily walked Maria out of the throne room, Lionhart and Oracle are happy as Lionhart said: "I can't wait to meet my future heritage." And Oracle looks at Nicole as she says: "Isn't it wonderful that she managed to find her groom." And although Nicole said: "Yeah… It sure is…" She knows that it's quite suspicious, especially with Emily managing to cut the princess off on what she was about to say. In the library, Emily brought Maria into the room as Maria angrily said: "Alright, Emily… What's going on?!" And Emily simply walks up to one of the books on the bookshelves as she said: "Tell me… Do you like to go out into town while wearing a disguise?" Hearing that shocked Maria as Emily then said: "I hate it to have to explain this to your parents about your constant disappearance to the town. I fear that they would force you to stay in your room." This causes Maria to say: "What is it that you want from me?" Emily then proceeds to pick up the book as she said: "Oh… Nothing complicated… After all, I intend on protecting your secret life. But if your parents were to find out about it and discover other members of the castle hiding your secret, they could lose their job." This causes Maria to say: "That sounds more like a threat…" Emily then turned around and said: "Oh… I wouldn't say such nasty words like that. I would prefer to use words like… "barging"." And at that moment, she realized what Emily is doing as she said: "If you think I would go and marry him, then…" But Emily proceeds to say: "Don't be too hasty… Think about the consequences of your action if you refused…" Emily then proceeds to walk to the doors with the book as she said: "But if you don't want to marry my son, then just say the word." And as Maria remains silent, Emily simply said: "I see… Then I'll be looking forward to making the announcement at the ball." Emily then proceeds to leave the room as Maria stands there in silence as she can't believe that Emily discovered her secret.

Back at the Lestorm's house. With the help from Zeus and Jen, Charlie is making the suit from the fabrics found from them. After all, it was Zeus and Jen's idea to gather items from around the house and have Charlie make the suit with his skills. And once Charlie manages to finish working on the suit, he goes to his room to go and put it on as both Zeus and Jen wait at the main lobby for Charlie. After a while, both Zeus and Jen heard some footsteps as they looked up the staircase and saw Charlie with his new suit on as well as his shoes that he had before he moved here. Charlie then proceeds to walk down the stairs as Zeus and Jen get up and go after Charlie with excitement, causing Charlie to say: "Hey, you guys. We still need to go to the castle." But that doesn't stop the two from going up and licking Charlie in the cheek. This causes Charlie to laugh as he hugs the two as it was thanks to the two that Charlie is able to get the suit working.

"You cannot enter the castle's ground without an invitation." The guard said as he drags Charlie out of the castle grounds. After that, this causes Charlie to turn around and said: "Please, sir. My name was on that invitation." Though the guard simply turns around as he said: "If you have the invitation, it would've been in your hands by now. No invitation, no entry." As the guard returns to his post, Zeus and Jen run-up to Charlie as Charlie knows that he couldn't get in without an invitation and his only invitation is with Albert. But Charlie then said: "Still, I can't give up. Not after I've come this far." But then they heard some wagons pulling up as Charlie got an idea. The wagons are carrying stocks of food as they head to the castle's gate when the guard spots the driver and says: "Ah, about time you showed up. The master chef has been waiting for you for hours." And the driver said: "Sorry sir. We'll be on our way." The driver then proceeds to drive the carriage forward as he follows the path to the server's entrance of the castle, where he finds a very impatient chef. Once the driver stopped in front of the server's entrance, the driver said: "Sorry, chef. My Mudsdale is quite stubborn today and-" But the chef proceeds to say: "Well nevermind about that, just hurry up and get the food in." But while that's going on, Charlie, Zeus and Jen managed to hop out of the wagon and quietly sneak towards the bushes that are next to them. After Charlie and Jen manage to get past the bushes, Charlie turns around and places his back on the castle's wall as he sighs in relief while saying: "I can't believe that we made it…" But when he looks ahead, he discovers that Zeus got caught by the vines in the bush. Not wanting to leave him behind, Charlie quickly goes to Zeus and says: "Hold on, I'll get you out of here." Charlie then proceeds to grab on to Zeus and proceeds to pull as hard as he can. And with enough effort, Charlie managed to pull Zeus out of the vines, just as one of the workers notices something. After that, Zeus Jen and Charlie are relaxing on the grass as Charlie said: "Phew… That was close…"

At the party. The guests are enjoying the moment as they socialize with one another, while some are dancing to the music that the musicians are playing. There's even some that are enjoying the banquet that the servers provided, including Max as he's eating some of the food at the banquet. But despite the guests having a good time, their mind is still focused on one goal. And that goal is to charm the princess and to become the princess's groom. Just as the party continues, Emily proceeds to enter the main stage as she said: "Hello, my fellow guests. I would like to welcome you all to the princess's ball." As the guests turn towards Duchess Emily, she then proceeds to say: "The princess shall be coming down soon. And as you all know, you are invited here as our hope that the princess will choose one of you fine gentlemen as her fiance. Well, I must inform you that there has been a change in the evening's plan. I'll say more once the princess arrives. Thank you for your attention." Emily then proceeds to bow her head before proceeding to leave the main stage as her words caused confusion with the guests as they wondered what Emily meant. Among the crowd, Alex said: "I wonder what Duchess Emily meant, Max?" Max then proceeds to say: "I don't know… But maybe the princess saw me and decided right away that she wants to marry me." But this causes Alex to look at Max and say: "I highly doubt that." But this causes Max to say: "It can happen."

Meanwhile. Maria has explained her situation to Nicole and Skarlet, as well as Emily's true plot and is considering ducking out of the ball so that Emily doesn't announce the wedding with her son. But this causes Skarlet to say: "But if you do that, who knows what the king and queen would do if they found out." Nicole then said: "Yes. But what alternative do we have? Either let Maria marry someone she doesn't love or risk her parents punishing her for her deeds." As Maria remains silent, what the three don't know is that Charlie, Zeus and Jen are walking down the dirt pathway as they are looking for the party. Skarlet then said: "But how did Emily know about her secret?" And as Charlie, Jen and Zeus hear that and quickly hide behind some bushes so that they can listen in and avoid detention, Maria said: "It's possible that Maximillian and Lucard learned of it and passed it along to Emily." Nicole then said: "Had I known about her, I would have never suggested the ball in the first place." But Skarlet then said: "But even then, there has to be a better way than ducking out of the ball. I know that it's a marriage of convenience, but anything's better than running away."

"You can't go through with it, your highness!" Charlie said as he came out of his hiding spot, after hearing about the princess going with the marriage of convenience. Though this causes the three to turn around and see Charlie, though Maria quickly looks away as she saw _Charlie. Charlie? Why's he here?! Did he get invited?!_ Charlie then proceeds to say: "I know that I shouldn't butt in into your conversation. But you shouldn't go ahead with this marriage of convenience. Marrying someone that you don't love is like waking up to a new day without experiencing hope." As Charlie was talking, Nicole looked over and saw Maria blushing as she believed that she had the thing for the young man in front of the three. Though this causes Skarlet to say: "And you are…?" This causes Charlie to say: "O-Oh! I'm sorry. As I said, I didn't mean to barge into the conversation." Thought that only causes Skarlet to say: "Yeah, well that doesn't help you out when I bring the guards to-" But suddenly, Nicole stops Skarlet as she looks and Charlie as he said: "Don't mind her. She doesn't like it when anyone tries to eavesdrop. Just head back to the party with the others." _Marrying someone that you don't love is like waking up to a new day without experiencing hope…_ Skarlet, Nicole and Maria then proceed to walk down the hall as Charlie sees Maria and can't help but feel enchanted by her beauty. Once Charlie sees the three gone, he proceeds to sit back on the grass as Zeus and Jen go up to Charlie. _It sounded so serious… If they don't go for it, the king and queen are going to be mad… But if they go through it, she'll be depressed… I got to do something…_ Charlie then looks around as he looks at Zeus and Jen as he said: "I think I got an idea on how we help them out." Little does he realize, Cinder is watching them from a distance as she said: "Hm… I wonder what Charlie has in his sleeve."

Back at the party. Maria and Nicole are walking down the upper deck as they discussed a plan earlier. _Charlie is right. I can't go through with this engagement with Dan. After all, he deserves to have a lovely woman that loves him. I won't let Emily pressure me into marrying her son. I'll stop this engagement from happening, even if it means losing my friends and my freedom._ Maria and Nicole then proceed to go down the stairs as the guests cheer for their arrival. Once they reach the bottom of the stairs, Maria proceeds to bow her head gracefully as she said: "Hello, my friends. I thank you for coming today." Emily then proceeds to say: "I would like to thank you gentleman for your patient as you must be wondering what my announcement is going to be." Emily then proceeds to turn to her son and said: "Dan." And as Dan said: "Yes, mother." He proceeds to walk on stage as it causes even more confusion with the crowd since they already believed that Maria isn't interested in Dan, while Maria clenches her fist without the crowd knowing. Once Dan makes it on stage, Emily then faces the crowd and says: "It is with great joy that I would like to announce-" Suddenly, the sound of a huge crash coming from the upper platform distracts the guests as the performers got scared from the crash. This causes Emily to say: "Would you get back into position and start over!" Hearing that causes the performers to quickly get back into position and start playing the trumpet again as Emily clears her throat as she then said: "As I was saying… It is with great joy that I would like to anno-" But then the sounds of the bell distract the guest as they turn to the clock tower. And this causes one of the guards to shout: "Hey! Get out of there, now!" This causes Emily to get angry as she said: "Who dares interrupt me?!"

While that was going on, Charlie is rushing down the pathway to the party guest, until he stops and hides behind the wall as he said: "Okay, Zeus. Give them a good scare." Back at the party. Emily proceeds to say: "Now. It is with great joy that I would like to announce that my son, Dan-" Suddenly, a roaring sound is heard as it startles Emily and scares some of the party guests. But then the scared guests turned into panic as one of them said: "Solgaleo! It's Solgaleo! It's come for us! Run!" The guests start to scatter as Emily tries to say: "Wait! I'm trying to say that my son Dan and the princess are-" But Dan proceeds to say: "It's no use, mother. They're not listening." But Emily then said: "But what would be causing this-" And at that moment, she saw the Solgaleo that the guest saw... Or rather, a Mightyena that's covered in white paint and white feathers. But this causes Emily to get scared as Nicole goes in front of both Maria and Dan as an effort to protect the two.

Yes. This is all part of Charlie's plan. He believes that if a legendary Pokemon were to come down and cause a scare to the guests, they won't proceed with the ball. While he hates to ruin the ball for everyone, including Albert and his brothers, he knew that if he didn't, then Maria would be forced to marry someone that she doesn't love. And while Charlie is busy making Zeus into the Solgaleo that they saw, Jen was causing some havoc by knocking off the armours from the castle's hall to distract the performers, then hurrying and pulling the rope to ring the bells to distract the guards. Once Charlie is done with the disguise, Zeus proceeds to let out a roar, which has a habit of scaring anybody who isn't used to his roar and then proceeds to chase the guests around to give them a good scare. But eventually, Emily has managed to gather her courage as signals her Houndooms to go after the Mightyena and When Zeus sees the Houndooms, he panics and stops in his tracks.

Fortunately for Zeus, Cinder was watching the event unfold as she said: "Oh, I see what Charlie is planning. But his disguise is wearing thin, so I shall give him a fighting chance." Cinder then proceeds to cast the spell at Zeus as it changes him from a Mightyena to an actual Solgaleo. This causes the two Houndooms to stop in their tracks as Zeus growls at them. While amid the chaos, Albert, Alex and Max are hiding nearby as Albert said: "What is going on here… Why did Solgaleo show up?!" And Alex proceeds to say: "I don't know. But this could be the perfect time to go and save the princess." And as Alex rushes out of his hiding spot, Max also rushes out of his hiding spot as he said: "Hey! I'm saving her first!" But as they hurry towards the princess, Zeus stops right in front of the two brothers and growls at them. As the two back off slowly, Zeus begins to bark with the growling sound at the two, which catches Maria's attention. _Wait… those growls… They sound like barks._ Could that Solgaleo be Zeus in disguise? Maria then looked around the mass panic, until she saw Charlie in the distance. And when Charlie looks at Maria, she smiles at him. _Now I see. Charlie must have done all of this so that Emily won't announce the engagement. I just have to figure out how to thank him for this later. _"Are you alright, your highness?" Dan said as he is concerned for her safety as Maria looks at Dan and said: "Oh, I'm fine. But it's a shame that we never get to dance." "Help! Help! Help me!" Said Emily as she is being chased by Zeus. And while that's going on, Cinder said: "It looks like people bought your disguise, so now it's time to return to your usual self." Cinder then cast the spell at Zeus as it transformed him from Solgaleo and back to Mightyena as Zeus continues to chase Emily.

As the night shines over the Lestorm's house. Charlie is relaxing on his bed with the Ralts doll playing a lullaby in his room as he wonders what tomorrow is going to be. And that was after they managed to get home before his family and once he asked them how was their day, they didn't give much detail and instead asked Charlie to make some dinner out of courtesy, which he did. Charlie then proceeds to get out of his bed and heads to the window as he stares out at the stars in the sky. _With the thanks of Zeus and Jen, they have to cancel the rest of the ball. And I thought I was worried that the princess would hate me… But seeing her smile like that… I know for certain that I managed to save her from marrying someone that she doesn't love. I just hope that we get the chance to meet each other properly, princess._


	13. The way of love

**The way of love...**

At the castle of Espérer. Dan is pacing back and forward in the private room as the maids are tending to the rose garden in the large pot. Earlier, Dan told one of the maids to bring Princess Maria over so that they can discuss the situation between the two of them since it's the second time that they were denied the chance to get married. And as the maids continued their work on the rose garden, one of the roses fell off the pot and landed on the floor. This causes Dan to turn to the maids and say: "Careful with that, you klutz! I need this room to be perfect for when the princess gets here! And I do not want you to screw it up!" This caused one of the maids to go and pick up the rose and said: "I'm sorry about that, sir." As the maid quickly place the rose back in the pot, Dan proceeds to say: "What kind of maids are you, when you can't even handle this simple-" But then he heard the knock on the door, he quickly turns to the door as he manages to calm himself down as he said: "That must be her." But when the door opens, he discovers that it's another maid bringing in the tea. This causes Dan to drop his mood as he said: "What do you want?" The maid with the tea enters the room as she said: "I was wondering if you want tea, sir." And Dan replied: "I don't want tea! I just want to know where the princess is!" This causes one of the other maids to reply: "I thought that we told you earlier? The princess is busy with the king and it could take all day." Not liking the news, Dan proceeds to sit down on the chair as he said: "Well, in that case, make sure that she gets here as soon as she's done with her father!" As one of the maids proceeds to pour a cup of tea for Dan as Dan grabs the tea from her, another maid proceeds to say: "B-But sir… We only-" But before she could finish, Dan proceeds to take a sip from his tea, only for him to drop his cup as he shouts out: "Gyah! It's too hot!" This causes Dan to quickly stand up from the chair, only to trip on the table and start tumbling forward towards the pot of roses. And that causes Dan to knock over the roses and get himself wet and covered in roses. This only accomplishes Dan to shout out: "You idiots!"

Having managed to get a fresh change of clothes, Dan is walking down the hall in a miserable mood. After all, he can't help but wonder if fate has it out for him since bad things always happen to him when it involves the princess. But before he can think further, Dan spots Princess Maria and Skarlet walking down the hall as they chat with each other. This causes Dan to say: "Oh! My princess!" This causes the two to look at Dan as Maria said: "Dan! I just realized something important. I don't have time to talk with you, but I'm sure that Skarlet will help take care of you." This surprises Skarlet as Maria quickly turns around and runs away as Skarlet said: "Huh?! Maria!" Dan runs up to Skarlet as he says: "Listen Skarlet, I need you to get Maria for me. It's important that I need to talk to her." Skarlet then proceeds to say: "U-Um… I wish I can help, but you heard her-" But this causes Dan to say: "Listen! I am having a rather bad day today and if you don't go get her, I'll make sure that your day will be miserable!" "Eh?!" Skarlet said as she was shocked by his statement, though Dan then proceeds to say: "So unless you don't want my mother to find out, you better bring her here now!" And while Skarlet knows that Dan is being disrespectful, she knows that if Emily finds out, things will be worse for Maria. This causes Skarlet to go after Maria as she said: "Maria, wait!" But Skarlet then saw Maria jumping onto some vines that are attached to the pillar and she proceeded to climb down the vines. Skarlet then said: "Hold on! I need to talk to you!" Skarlet then proceeds to jump onto the vines, before she proceeds to climb down the vines. But the vine that she is holding on to suddenly ripped apart from the other vines and caused Skarlet to fall from the pillar and onto the bush. And once Maria gets on the ground, she looks over to Skarlet and says: "Nice landing, I'm sure that you'll get the drop on our enemies." And as Skarlet slowly gets up from the bush as she said: "Real… Mature of you…" Maria proceeds to run off. But while that's going on, Dan looks from the halls as he said: "Wait, Maria! Don't go!" But his words don't affect Maria as she runs off.

After seeing Maria gone, Dan walks the halls alone as he is quite depressed. He doesn't know why, but ever since his birthday, bad things have always happened to him when it comes to him wanting to marry the princess. And now the princess won't even talk to him at all. He is often told by his mother that he and the princess shall be together, but now he starts to doubt that he will be with the princess due to her actions. Dan then proceeds to say: "What did I do to cause her to avoid me… If only we get to talk to each other…" But at that moment, Dan has a realization. Although Dan knows that his new idea would break her mother's heart and cause her to worry as well as put the kingdom into a panic, if it's the only way for the princess to notice him, then he'll have to do it. With his mindset, Dan proceeds to say: "So, princess. You like to play a little game of hiding and run, then two shall play that game."

At the Lestorm's house. Max and Alex are relaxing in the dining room as Max is busy reading a book. Max then suddenly said: "Say, Alex? Do you have any idea on how to live a secretive romantic life?" This confuses Alex as he said: "Uh… What are you talking about?" Max then proceeds to say: "Let me put this in a way… Say that you have a crush on a certain someone, but you're not allowed to go anywhere near her." "What? You mean like Romeo and Juliet?" Alex asked and Max then said: "Yeah, like that… Only, without the whole army and war. Anyway, what would you do if you couldn't go see her?" Alex then proceeds to think to himself, before he proceeds to say: "Well… What I would do is write some letters to her… Then I would send it to a messenger so he can deliver it without being suspicious. Oh, and I would also write a signature name so she knows that it came from me." This causes Max to say: "I see. That actually sounds perfect. I'll go do that right now." But before Max can get up, Charlie enters the room with a vase in hand as he said: "Sorry that I overheard you two, but shouldn't you know who it is that you're writing to, first?" And as Charlie places the vase on the table, Max said: "Isn't it pretty obvious who it is that I'm talking about." And at that point, Charlie knew what Max was talking about as Charlie said: "You're talking about Princess Maria? But I thought that you would give up on her after you failed to win her heart?" And Max then said: "Yeah right… The only way that things will end is when the princess and I are getting married since I'm the only thing that can make her happy."

But at that point, Max and Charlie heard Alex laughing as Alex then said: "Oh… So that's why you asked me those questions. Well, I'm afraid to tell you…" Alex then proceeds to show both of them five letters with his signature on them as Alex said: "But I already beat you to the punch." This surprises Charlie and shocks Max as Max said: "Are all of those for Princess Maria?!" Alex nodded as he looked at Charlie and said: "Once you're done. Take these letters over to the messenger, he'll take care of the rest." Charlie then said: "Sure thing, Alex." But this causes Max to say: "Oh no you don't! Charlie, I want you to go and destroy these letters Alex has!" As Charlie says: "Um… I don't think I could-" Alex cuts Charlie off as he said: "Oh, Max. Have you forgotten the last time you had Charlie destroying my stuff that was supposed to be sent to the princess?" But this gets Max angry as he said: "Well in that case… Charlie, I want you to go and gather some parcel supplies so I can make a much better gift than Alex." Charlie then said: "Sure, but I am going to need some money for the supplies." This causes Max to sigh as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small bag filled with coins, before proceeding to say: "Fine. Here's the money. Just go and get the stuff and don't lollygag as you usually do."

Meanwhile. Emily is returning to her home after discovering that things are not going her way again. Not only did she overheard Nicole telling the king and queen that the whole Maria proposing to Dan was a misunderstanding, but also learns that Nicole discovers the groom for the princess, despite the ball getting cancelled. That alone has put a huge strain on her and her plan to take the kingdom, but she still has some backup plans in her mind. Once she arrives home, she expects to see her son come and welcome her back. But after a few minutes, she heard nothing as she proceeded to say: "Dan?" Thinking that he is in the study room, she proceeds to make her way to the doors in the study room as she said: "Dan?" She proceeded to open the door as she then said: "Why don't you answer me, Dan?" But she sees that Dan is not in the study room. She starts to get annoyed as she said: "If this is a game that you're playing, then I'm not happy." As she searches the room, she starts to get even angrier as she then said: "Dan, where are you?!" "Um… Excuse me, miss." Said one of her servants, causing her to turn around and see him as she said: "What do you want?" She then notices that the servant has a paper in his hand as the servant said: "Mr… Mr. Dan left an hour ago. But he did leave this note to you, madam." Emily then walks up to her servant as she says: "Well… Let me see it then." The servant then hands Emily the note as she proceeds to read it. And upon reading the note, her anger and annoyance turned to scared and despair.

At the castle. King Lionhart and Queen Oracle are spending their time together as they feed the Pidoves that are on their patio as Madam Nicole watches from the distance so that she cannot scare the Pidoves. As the king and queen are enjoying their time together, Nicole is thinking to herself on how she can find the guy that they saw at the ball. Despite looking through the guest list, she doesn't find the description of the guy that they saw and her informants couldn't find the guy that she described. But if that wasn't enough, she also has to deal with Emily ploying to bring her son and the princess together so that she can rule the kingdom herself. Suddenly, the doors opened as Nicole saw Emily entering the room as she said: "My lord! I brought terrible news!" This causes the Pidoves to fly away, though this causes Lionheart and Oracle to turn around and see Emily as Oracle said: "What is it?! Did something happen to our daughter?!" And Emily replied: "No, your daughter is fine. But my son… He has run away from his home."

Maria is heading through the halls as she was summoned to the throne room. She expects that she'll have to deal with her parents wanting her to get married, but when she enters the throne room, she discovers that the mood of the room is quite down. Maria then notices that Emily is looking sad as she said: "Is there something that you want from me, father?" Lionhart then proceeds to hand Maria the note as he said: "Have a look at this, my daughter." Maria then proceeds to open the note and reads the note. [Dear Mother. You told me that I would be able to achieve great things and that I would be able to marry the princess. But her actions have caused me to doubt myself about my future. So I must take my leave so I can find out who I am. And if by chance Princess Maria is reading this, I want you to know that my heart will always be yours, but this is something that I must do alone. Don't bother looking for me, for that, I fear that your mind is already made up. Dan.] Maria is quite shocked to read how he ran away from his home as Lionhart said: "Well, Maria. What do you have to say." Maria was feeling a bit guilty as Oracle said: "Did you say something that caused him to run away?" Maria then said: "N-No. I haven't talked to him today." Though Emily drops to her knees as she said: "Oh, Dan… Where are you… If anything happens to you, I… I… I don't know what I'll do…" Maria then looks at Emily as she discovers that her sadness is genuine as she does care about her son. Lionhart then proceeds to say: "Do not worry, I have already sent my men to go find your son. Anyone in the member of the kingdom shall get the help they need." This causes Emily to bow as she said: "You are too kind, my lord." She then got up from the floor as she then said: "I must get going if I have any chance of finding my son." She then proceeds to quickly leave the room as Oracle said: "Maria, I want you to help Emily with her search for her son." While Maria knew that working with Emily is dangerous, she does feel responsible for Dan running away as she said: "Understand, mother."

At the town's square at night. Dan is struggling to carry the luggage that he had to pack in a hurry. He then drops it to the ground as he said: "Okay… Note to self, get a servant to carry the luggage for me…" Dan then proceeds to turn around and sit on the edge of the fountain as he said to himself: "Still… I believe that everyone in the kingdom is worried about me now…" Even though Dan knew that he could be in trouble for running away from his home, he believes that it will get the princess's attention and will come and find him. Dan then proceeds to stand up and grabs his luggage as he said: "I should probably head to mother's summer home by the lake." As Dan carries his luggage, his stomach starts to growl, which he took notice. He then said: "Oh… I guess I forgot to eat something before I ran away…" He then looks around as he spots a fruit merchant that's still open, which causes him to say: "Might as well get a quick bite before I head out." He then makes his way to the stand as he places his luggage on the ground, before proceeding to pick up the apple from the stand as he says: "Send the bill over to my mother. I'm sure that she will pay you tomorrow." The merchant was confused as he said: "Uh… A-And you are…?" "Dan, the son of Duchess Emily. And as soon as I speak to her, I'll tell her how much she owes you." But this causes the merchant to say: "But sir… I can't…" But while that's going on, a small figure is sneaking towards Dan's luggage as Dan said: "Don't worry, it won't be a problem for her."

Nearby. Charlie exits the good's store with a basket full of parcels as he sees both Zeus and Jen waiting for him. Charlie then said: "Sorry about making you guys wait. We should hurry and get back home." And as both Zeus and Jen nodded, they suddenly heard someone yelling: "Hey! Get back here!" This causes the three to look at the source of the voice as they spotted a Smoochum carrying luggage that's twice the size. As the Smoochum rush passed them, causing Charlie to drop the parcels on the ground, they heard the voice saying: "Someone! Stop that thief!" they looked over and saw Dan running up to them as Dan said: "That Smoochum stole my only luggage! Help me get it back!" Charlie then proceeds to look at Zeus and says: "Zeus, Jen, follow that Smoochum." After Zeus lets out a bark, the two proceed to follow the Smoochum as Charlie looks at Dan and says: "If we hurry, we can catch up to the Smoochum." Dan nodded as he said: "Right." Charlie and Dan then proceed to follow the two as they hurry after the thieving Smoochum while forgetting the parcels that have fallen on the ground.

Meanwhile. Maria is riding down a path as she hurries over to the town while Skarlet is with Emily and the scouts that are assigned to find Dan. By using her Rapidash as a source of light, she searches the area if she can find Dan heading towards the town. She also shouts out: "Dan?! Dan!" As she shouted out his name, she noticed the stream of water nearby and saw her reflection. She then looks at herself and discovers that she is still wearing her princess attire. _Wait. I can't go to town like this. If there's trouble, I would be more likely to get kidnapped._ As she continues to ride, she discovers a small house with an older Gardevoir taking care of her Ralts as well as some clothes hanging on the line, which gives her an idea. As Maria makes her way to the small house, the older Gardevoir is tending to her Ralts when she hears someone saying: "Hi there." She then looks up and is surprised to see the princess here as the princess then said: "I need your help." While the older Gardevoir was confused, she did at least agree to help her. After some time has passed, Maria has managed to switch from her princess attire to the older Gardevoir's clothing and a brown cloak so that she can avoid getting caught. She also removed her saddle from her Rapidash, since it could be recognizable as her horse and Maria didn't want to take the chance. Once that is done, Maria proceeds to say: "Thank you. I'll make sure to return these clothes as soon as I'm done with my duties." Maria then proceeds to ride off on her Rapidash as the older Gardevoir waves goodbye to her. She then looks over and sees the princess's attire hanging on the line as she is told to take care of them.

Back at the town. Zeus and Jen are following the scent of the Smoochum when they head to the back alley. When they got there, they saw that it was a dead end as they realized that they lost the Smoochum. Charlie and Dan followed them afterwards as Charlie said: "Did you find the Smoochum, boy?" But when Zeus and Jen didn't answer, Charlie and Dan looked around as Charlie said: "Oh no… We lost it…" This causes Dan to get angry as he took out his anger by kicking the small rock at the wall as he said: "Fine! I'll make sure that the Smoochum pays for it…!" Dan then takes a deep breath as he looks at Charlie. He then goes up to Charlie and proceeds to say: "Listen, I know that you did your best in helping me in capturing that Smoochum, but if you can do me another favour, I will make sure that you are gratefully rewarded." This surprises Charlie as he said: "Oh. What do you want me to do?" Dan then said: "I need you to fetch me a carriage. I need to head to the house by a lake." Charlie then said: "I wish I could, but there are not even any carriages around here. And I have to walk here on foot." This was something Dan did not want to hear as he then said: "Well… At least there has to be a stable around?" And Charlie said: "I think there is, but…"

"Help me…" Said an unknown older voice, causing the two to look around until they spotted a cloaked figure coming from the shadows. The cloaked figure then said: "Help me… I can't find my daughter…" This causes Charlie to say: "Your daughter? Is she lost?" The cloaked figure nodded as it said: "She is lost in this town and I'm worried that she may be in danger." While Dan sighs, he then proceeds to say: "Fine… If this doesn't take too long, I'll help find your daughter." Before Charlie could say something, the cloaked figure proceeds to say: "Oh, thank you, kind sir. You truly are grateful." But then suddenly, the cloaked figure proceeds to hug Dan and kiss him. While that surprises Charlie, he soon becomes confused when he sees Dan struggling to get out of the kiss. And before Charlie could get the chance to say something, Dan's arm goes limp as the cloaked figure breaks the kiss and let's go. This causes Dan to fall to the group with a large pink lipstick on his face and for Charlie to see that the cloaked figure is none other than Jynx. Zeus and Jen quickly go to his side and prepare to attack her if she gets close as Charlie said: "What did you do to him?" The Jynx then proceeds to say: "Sorry, but I really need him. And while I don't normally go for your type, I'll have to make an exception since I don't want any witnesses." This causes Zeus and Jen to charge after the Jinx, but her psychic abilities caused the two to get pushed away and hit the wall hard, knocking both of them out. This causes Charlie to say: "Zeus! Jen!" But before he has enough time to react, the Jynx teleports in front of him as she said: "Shh… Don't fight it. It'll be over soon." The Jynx then proceeds to hug him as she kisses Charlie. He tries to struggle, but his vision starts to weaken as he realizes that Jynx is using a draining kiss on him. But unfortunately for Charlie, his vision went black as he faints in front of the Jynx.

Slowly, Charlie's conscious is coming back as he slowly opens his eyes and sees that he is laying on some hay. Charlie then slowly gets up as he notices that Dan is next to him. This causes him to try and shake him as he says: "Hey… Are you okay." Dan groans as he quickly gets up and says: "Ugh… What happened…" Charlie then said: "It must have been that kiss from that Jynx… But… Where are we…?" "I advise that you save your strength and stay there. Don't want any unnecessary injuries on you." Said Jynx as she walks into the room. Just as the two slowly get their consciousness back, they hear a voice saying: "Who's that, mama?" This causes Dan to say: "Wait… That voice… Don't tell me… It's the brat that stole my luggage." And as Charlie looks over, he sees the same Smoochum that stole Dan's luggage, enters the room as she saw Dan, which causes her to say: "Oh, mama. That's the mean man that I took the luggage from." This causes Jynx to say: "Oh really… I see that you have already met Lucy. She truly is a gem, just like me, or my name isn't Isabel." As the two girls giggled, Dan proceeded to say: "You rotten…" But Charlie notices the door, before proceeding to tell Dan: "Hold on, let's get out of here." Dan was confused until he noticed the door and said: "I agree." The two then proceed to dash towards the door…

...Only to be stopped by a dagger that struck the wall right in front of the two. Isabel then said: "Don't bother trying to escape. We don't want any "accidents" now, do we?" This causes Dan to get angry as he looks at Isabel and says: "Don't you know who my mother is? She is well known by the kingdom for her service, which is something you crooks don't understand!" Dan then moves past Charlie as he then said: "I am Dan, son of Duchess Emily. And soon, I shall be known as the princess's groom. Now I am having a rather bad day today and unless you two let me go this instance, you will face the wrath of your future king!" This shocks Charlie as he can't believe that Dan is actually going to marry the princess. This also causes Isabel to say: "Really? I never knew that you were going to be king. Where are my manners? Lucy, would you mind giving our guest the proper attire." Lucy then said: "Of course, mama." Lucy then heads over to the room that she just left. But when she came back, she ended up tossing a mop at Dan, before placing the bucket on his head. This causes Isabel to giggle as she said: "Oh my lord. It's an honour that you would come and visit us. And we would love it if you clean our floors." While Lucy giggles, Dan gets angry as he said: "And what makes you think that I would be your slave?!" This causes Isabel to say: "Unless you don't want to get hurt, I advise you drop that tone of yours." She then pulls out another dagger, which shaken Dan. She then looked at Charlie and said: "As for you… I want you to go to the kitchen and make us some supper for us." Realizing the danger, Charlie plays along as he said: "Right away, your highness." This angers Dan as he looks at Charlie and says: "What?! Don't tell me you're intending on-" But Charlie cuts him off as he said: "We'll talk after we head to the next room." Charlie then proceeds to drag the very annoyed Dan to the next room."

Meanwhile. After Emily, Skarlet and the scouts search the surrounding area around her house, they make their way down the pathway as Emily remembers that the two would go to her summer house by the lake for their vacation. But after the group arrives at the house, they search the whole house to find no evidence of Dan being in the house. As the scouts continue to search the area for any signs of Dan, Emily sits on the stairs as she feels defeated. Skarlet sees Emily in that state as she asks: "Are there any other places that Dan might be, Emily?" And Emily replied: "No… He has never been to any other area. Finding him here was my only hope that he will be alright… But now… I don't know if he's okay… Oh, Dan… I pray that nothing bad happens to you…" As Emily starts to cry, Skarlet starts to wonder about the whole thing. Especially if Dan and Maria decided to go through with the wedding. But she also hopes that maybe, there's a chance that Emily would give up her plans for taking over the kingdom when they find her son.

In the town. Maria makes her way to the town square as she searches for any signs that Dan was here. But as she looks around, she notices a merchant that was closing shop. This causes her to go up to the merchant and say: "Excuse me, sir. I was wondering if you have seen anyone recently?" The merchant then turns around and says: "Well… There was this nobleman. He says that he's the son of Duchess Emily, but I don't think he's telling the truth." With Maria realizing that it's Dan, she then asks: "Then do you know where he went?" And the merchant replied: "I believe so. While he was trying to take a fruit from my stand, there was a thief that stole luggage and he went after it. And I think the thief may have been a Smoochum." The merchant then points down the street as he then said: "I believe that you can find them down the street." This causes Maria to say: "Thanks, sir." Maria then proceeds to make her way down the street as she searches for any signs of Dan. But as she went down the street, she heard a crunching sound from underneath her, which caused her to stop her Rapidash. She then proceeds to get off of her Rapidash and examines the ground as she sees some parcels on the ground. This causes her to believe that there might be a second victim to the thievery and hopes that the second victim is fine.

Meanwhile. Zeus and Jen are slowly getting up from getting hit by that psychic ability that the Jynx used. As they looked around, they quickly discovered that both Dan and Charlie were gone. While Zeus tries to find them, Jen said that they need to find some clue that will lead them to the two. Zeus then agrees as they look around the dead-end alley. Zeus and Jen then notice a brooch on the ground as Jen deduce that it must have fallen from Dan as the Jynx picks the both of them up and doesn't notice the brooch that fell from his suit. Using that as a means to find Dan, Zeus picks up the scent as Jen picks up the brooch. Zeus then proceeds to follow the scent as Jen follows him. But as they follow the scent, they notice Maria in a cloak and riding on a Rapidash as the two decide to get her help. As the two headed over to Maria, Maria noticed the two and said: "Huh? Zeus? Jen? What are you-" But then Maria notices the brooch that Jen has as she places the brooch on the ground. Maria then gets off her Rapidash as she goes and picks it up. Seeing that, Maria said: "This must be Dan's personal brooch." Fearing the worst, Maria then said: "I take it you two know where they are, right." Zeus lets out an acknowledge bark as Maria then said: "Okay. You two can lead the way." Zeus and Jen then proceed to follow the scent as Maria quickly gets back on her Rapidash as she follows the two.

While that's going on. Charlie is shown the back so that he can clean the vegetables while Lucy watches him for any signs of him escaping. As Charlie continues to clean the vegetables, Lucy said: "Remember, stranger. Mama said that if you do anything bad, bad things happen to you." Charlie then looks behind him as he says: "Oh, don't mind me. I just want to get these all cleaned up for your supper." Even though Charlie is playing along, he at least intends on giving them a good meal before he could figure out he could escape. Lucy then said: "Are you a cook or something?" And Charlie then said: "No. But I can guarantee that you and your mother will enjoy supper." This causes Lucy to say: "You know… You sound like my papa…" And Charlie then said: "Oh? And where is your father?" Lucy then starts to get sad as she said: "Up in the skies…" As Charlie sees her sad expression, he quickly realizes that she lost her father as he said: "Oh… I'm sorry to hear that…" This causes Lucy to get suspicious as she said: "Wait a minute. Are you trying to get me sad so you can leave." But Charlie replied: "No, I wouldn't. It's just that I also lost my father. It was quite sad, so I can understand how you must have felt when you lost your father." Lucy was touched about how thoughtful Charlie is as his mind of escaping the place is placed in the back of his mind.

While things are going well for Charlie and Lucy, things are not the same as Dan and Isabel. When Dan was sweeping the floor, he ended up knocking over a shell as the bottles fell and broke on the floor, causing Isabel to get angry. When Dan is told to do the laundry, he ends up slipping and causing their laundry to fall in the waters, causing Isabel to get even angrier. When Dan is told to cut the vegetables for Charlie, he ends up cutting the vegetables poorly which not only frustrates Isabel but also forces Charlie to start over. And when Isabel orders Dan to get her some tea, he ends up tripping and spilling the tea on Isabel. This pushes Isabel to her breaking limit as she angrily said: "You clumsy fool! What kind of nobleman are you!" But quickly enters the room as he hears her outburst as he quickly says: "Calm down, miss. I'm sure that he's just nervous." He then grabs a cloth and starts to wipe the stains from her dress as he said: "Here, let me clean the stains for you." Even though Isabel is angry, she ends up saying: "Fine. Just hurry up and get it done." And as Charlie continues to wipe the stains, Dan just watches as he is feeling depressed.

Later on. As Charlie is busy stirring the stew, Dan is sitting by the fire as he is having the worst day of his life. Dan then looks over at Charlie and asks: "Tell me… How can you stoop this low to those rotten criminals?" Charlie then said: "Well… It's just that I'm the one that does the chores from my home. And while I was scared at first, it turns out that it's not so bad." Dan was quite confused, while he has the looks of a commoner, he feels that his aurora comes from a nobleman. Wanting to know, Charlie asks: "Hey… Are you a nobleman, like me?" Charlie then said: "It's… It's not something that I would like to say…" As much as Charlie would like to say yes, he doesn't even feel like a nobleman with his mother gone on an important trip. And with Albert giving him chores and giving special treatment to his sons, he feels like his nobleman title is taken away and he doesn't know if he'll get it back.

But then Charlie remembers what Dan said as he asks: "By the way… Is it true that you're actually going to marry the princess?" Dan looks sad as he sighs and says: "No… It isn't true. I'm not going to marry the princess." This surprises Charlie as he said: "Really? But you made it sound so convincing. I'm quite jealous of you." This surprised Dan as he said: "Really?" Charlie then said: "Yeah. I imagine that every guy dreams about marrying the princess. And with you being Duchess Emily's son, I imagine that you get to see her every day." This causes Dan to feel sad as he said: "If only that was true…" While that confuses Charlie, Dan then said: "You see… The princess barely even acknowledged me, even though I'm in love with her. She even runs away from me whenever I get close to her. If this keeps going, I'll have to face the fact that the princess doesn't love me anymore and that I should move on." "Hold on, don't say stuff like that." Charlie said. He then said: "I know that things are complicated, but I'm sure that the two of you will get the chance to talk things out. And if things work out, I can see both of you getting married." Hearing that surprises Dan as Charlie then said: "Just be patient, I'm sure that she'll come around." Dan then starts to smile as he says: "Thanks… You are quite kind. But don't you have the same dream of marrying the princess?" Charlie then said: "I do, but I want to at least help you out." Dan then proceeds to say: "Man… I can't believe that you are willing to help me out and yet… I don't even know your name." Charlie then proceeds to say: "You can call me Charlie."

In the other room. Isabel and Lucy are practicing their knife-throwing skills at a wooden doll to ensure that their skills don't rust. After all, with her husband gone, they lost their fortune to some money lender and they are forced to live in a miserable home. So Isabel plans to find some nobleman and steal them for ransom. Once they've obtained enough coins, they plan on leaving town so that she can help give Lucy a better future. Lucy then proceeds to say: "Mama. Is it true that he's a prince?" Isabel then said as she tossed her dagger: "I don't know, sweetie. But if that's true, then we could obtain a bigger ransom." Isabel then tossed another dagger at the wooden doll as she then said: "But we need to be smart and careful. One wrong move and we won't be able to see each other. But if we did everything right, we will bring in a lot of gold." Isabel then tosses another dagger at the wooden doll.

Eventually, Charlie is finished making dinner and has set the plates for everyone, including Dan and himself. Charlie then said: "It's all done. Come and get it." "It's about time." Isabel said as she and Lucy entered the room. As the two sit down, Lucy said: "Wow! It smells good!" And Isabel said: "It sure is. But let's hope that it tastes good, for his sake." Lucy then takes a spoonful of the stew, which causes Lucy to say: "Mama! It's actually good!" "Really?" Isabel said as she sheath her dagger before proceeding to try the stew, before proceeding to say: "Hey… It is pretty good. Looks like you did well." As the two proceeded to eat their meal, Charlie said: "Thank you. And you don't have to worry, I've made plenty for everyone." This causes Lucy to say: "You know, you really do remind me of my papa, stranger." As Charlie takes in the compliment, Isabel looks at Dan as he hasn't moved from this spot and said: "Hey, why not join us in this meal. It'll give us a chance to learn more about you. It'll be a good change of pace from what you've eaten." But Dan proceeds to say: "Do you think that I would eat with a bunch of rotten criminals!" Isabel then said: "You'll have to eat, sooner or later." Lucy then asks: "Does a prince eat at the castle, stranger?" But Dan then said: "I will never eat with you and I am not hungry right now!" But a growling sound coming from Dan proves that he's hungry. Though this causes Charlie to grab a bowl of stew and brings it over to Dan as he said: "Here… You should at least eat up. It'll at least keep your strength up." Dan proceeds to look at the stew, but then he looks away as he says: "I… Can't…" Hearing that has put a damper in Charlie's mood.

"Just ignore him, boy. If he says he's not hungry, then he's not hungry." Isabel said. She then said: "Besides, once we get the ransom, we'll let you two go and you won't hear from us again." But then Lucy hears something as she leaves her table and takes a peek out the window. She then looks around, until the sounds of clopping caught her attention. And when she looked over, she saw a Mightyena, Persian and a Rapidash heading towards their home. This causes Lucy to panic as she said: "Mama!" Isabel turned around as she said: "What is it?!" And Lucy replied: "It's the bad man!" What Lucy didn't see is that it's actually Maria with Zeus and Jen. And when Zeus stops in front of the house, he lets out a bark to let Maria know that this is the house. This causes Maria to nod, before getting off her Rapidash and proceeds to bang on the door as she said: "Dan! Dan! Are you okay!" Hearing no response, Maria tries to go through the door, but she doesn't break it due to the door being barred. But then she uses her Rapidash to break open the door with its legs. This causes the door to break apart and allows Maria to enter the house, only to find it empty. But then she saw another door open as she went through it. She then sees that she's at the back of the house as she scans the area for any signs of Dan. What Maria doesn't know is that Isabel used her draining kiss to knock them both out. But since she was in a hurry, it only lasted long enough for Charlie and Dan to wake up as he noticed a shadow figure and said: "Hey. There's help." As Maria continued to scan the area, she suddenly heard Charlie say: "Help! Help!" This causes Maria to turn and see a rowboat amid a fog. This causes Maria to realize that the second victim is Charlie as she said: "Charlie and Dan must be in danger. I've got to save them."

After they rowed to the docks, Isabel and Lucy brought Charlie and Dan to their wagon and drove off with Isabel driving with two Zebstrika in tow. And while she drives, Lucy is on the lookout for any signs of trouble. But suddenly, Lucy sees a figure riding on a fiery steed as it scares Lucy as she said: "Ah! Mama! The badman is catching up to us!" "What?!" Isabel said. Lucy then said: "The badman is catching up to us! I don't know how the badman found us!" And at that point, Dan notices a sparkle on that figure as he quickly realizes what's going on as he said: "The princess… She must have found that brooch and know where I am. I know being saved by a girl is hurtful, but I shall swallow my pride so I can meet the princess." But as the figure gets closer, it turns out that the figure is nothing more than Maria on her Rapidash, causing Charlie to say: "Oh! It's Maria! She's going to save us!" This angers Dan as he said: "What! Are you saying that I'm going to be saved by a commoner!" "Would you shut up!" Isabel said as she noticed Maria catching up to her side. This causes Isabel to toss out a few daggers at her, but Maria manages to dodge them with ease before proceeding to jump out of her Rapidash and land on Isabel. As the two struggles, Lucy pulls out a dagger and jumps at her as Charlie says: "Look out!" Maria took notice and quickly pulled Isabel up, causing Lucy to tackle Isabel and causing the two to fall and land in the waters. With the situation taken care of, Maria looks behind her and says: "Hope you don't mind me taking the realms." And as Dan remains silent, Charlie smiles at Maria for saving both of them.

As the sun starts to rise, Charlie and Dan have managed to get out of their binds as Charlie gets out of the wagon. Charlie then said: "Thanks, Maria. I don't know how you managed to find us, but I am at least grateful." This caused Maria to blush as she said: "Oh, don't mind me. Just here to help." "To think that my day would go worse. From the princess avoiding me, to me getting kidnapped. Now I've been saved by a commoner. That is something that I can't accept." Dan said as he was getting angry. But Charlie has had enough as he turns to Dan and says: "That's enough! I know that you may not like it, but Maria was there to save us! And what would you do if she wasn't around to save you, huh?! She has shown more courage than anyone that I've known, especially with a royal title under their belt!" Dan remains silent as he looks away as Maria blushes from Charlie's speech. Charlie then looks at Maria as he says: "Sorry about that. I haven't-" But to his surprise, Maria ends up kissing him in the cheek as it causes Charlie's heart to skip a beat. And as Charlie blushes, Maria proceeds to say: "Thank you, Charlie." The two continue to blush as the light shines on the river. Meanwhile, Isabel and Lucy managed to get out of the water unscathed as they walked through the pleasant forest as Lucy said: "Mama. I don't want to do bad things anymore. I want to go and meet someone, like Prince Charlie." Isabel starts to giggle as she says: "Really? Well when you say it like that, it made me quite bashful that I've actually kissed him." The two started to giggle as both of them had a change of heart after the whole experience from before.

Back at the Lestorm's house. Charlie was hoping that he could go back home and make some breakfast for the family. Unfortunately, he is greeted by a very angry Max as Alex and Albert watches as Max said: "Where is it, Charlie?! Where's the parcel that I ordered?!" Albert then said: "Charlie, you have a lot of explaining to do." As it turns out, Charlie completely forgot to grab the parcels after the whole ordeal is over as he said: "I'm sorry. I don't have it on me…" But Max cuts him off as he said: "Yeah, I know it's not on you! I'm asking where is it?!" But while that is going on, Jen and Zeus are watching from the distance as Cinder teleports in as she heard: "You see… I did go to the store, but there-" But Cinder then hears Alex saying: "Do you really think you can fool him with your excuses?" Knowing that things will go sour, Cinder said: "He sure had a hard time last night. So let me give him a wonderful morning." She then cast the spell at the empty basket that Zeus brought as it fills up with parcel supplies. This causes Jen to nod as she grabs the basket and brings it to the house. But Max was having none of it as he grabbed Charlie as he said: "Listen here, you rotten little thief! When I expect you to do your job, I expect you to-" But then suddenly, Max notices Jen with the supplies as he lets Max go and says: "Oh. Why didn't you say that Jen has it, instead of going on with your lame excuses?" While this confuses Charlie, Max grabs the basket and pets Jen as he said: "Thanks, Jen." Max then said: "Sheesh, to think I would have a lousy way to start things off, I am starving." Max then heads back inside as the other two follow him. Charlie smiles as he had avoided another punishment by his family, but then he says: "Hang on, how did the parcel supplies get here? I could've sworn I've forgotten them...:" And what Charlie doesn't know is that Cinder is watching from the woods.


	14. What is Princess Maria's Secret

**What is Princess Maria's Secret**

At the Lestorm's house. Charlie is tasked to tend the two Zebstrikas by Albert. And while Charlie did have plans to go hang out with Zeus and Jen, he knew he can't ignore his father's request. But as he brings out the two Zebstrikas, he discovers that the skies are bright and clear. _You know, with the skies clear… I can take care of grooming them while they have their sunbath._ As Charlie starts to brush one of Zebstrika's coats, the other Zebstrika can't help but smuggle up to Charlie. This causes Charlie to chuckle as he pats the other Zebstrika as he says: "It's okay. I'll make sure that you get the same care." Though that causes the other Zebstrika to lick Charlie in the face. Even though Charlie is tasked to take care of the two Zebstrikas, the two Zebstrikas are quite fond of him, since Charlie took care of them since Cesar suffered a minor injury and can't tend to the two. But just as things are going well, Charlie then heard: "Charlie! Come here at once! The ceiling is leaking and I want you to go and fix it for me!" Charlie then looks at the source of the voice and discovers Alex on the patio from his room. Charlie knew that if he goes and takes care of that, there won't be enough time for him to care for the Zebstrikas. But as Charlie says: "That will have to wait, Alex. Father asked me to take care of the Zebstrikas and I need to take advantage of the sun." Alex then said: "It'll only take you three seconds to go and fix the ceiling, Charlie! You'll have to take care of them later!" Even though Charlie wants to say no, he knew that Alex would get Charlie into trouble for refusing. Alex then said: "I'm not going to ask again, Charlie! Hurry up and deal with the ceiling instead of making things difficult!" But as Alex turned around, Charlie said: "Hang on, Alex." Alex then said: "Now what?!" Charlie then says: "Fixing a ceiling is actually quite simple. Once you know how to do it, you can do it rather quickly." Alex then thinks for a while, before saying: "Wow… I never knew. At least I know you won't screw up this simple task then." Alex then enters his room as Charlie feels depressed that Alex won't listen to what he said.

Meanwhile. After the events of the kidnapping, Emily has hoped that things would calm down. And for the most part, it has. But as she enters the living room, she discovers her son laying on the couch with several papers in his hand. Curious, Emily asks: "What do you have there, son?" Dan then looked at her mother and said: "Just some love letters that I've received today. You wouldn't believe the number of love letters that I have received." Curious, Emily said: "And are any of them from the princess?" Dan then said: "No. Princess Maria doesn't interest me anymore after she made it clear that she doesn't want to see me. So I'm going to find the proper girl for me." While she is shocked that her son doesn't have any interest in the princess, she at least goes through the letters to see what girls show interest in her son. While the letters do contain info from wealthy people like noblewoman and duchesses, none fits her desire so she proceeded to toss them and said: "These are not suitable for you, son.". But that causes Dan to get up and say: "So what, mother. At least these ladies are noticing me, unlike the princess that you keep bringing it up." Emily then said: "The only reason why I keep mentioning her is that I'm doing what's best for you." But that causes Dan to stand up and said: "If the best for me is to be miserable as I wait for an eternity before the princess could notice me, then I would rather throw it all away just so I can be happy!" Dan then storms off as Emily is starting to get mad.

At the castle. Emily has summoned Lucard and Maxmillian over to her study room as she asks: "So tell me, are you sure that she doesn't have any more secrets?" Lucard then said: "Of course, Duchess. She hasn't a word to me or any of the trainees." Maximillian said: "I've managed to keep an eye on them and they haven't done anything to share info in front of me, Duchess." This is something that Emily did not want to hear. After all, if she cannot find any other secrets to exploit and pressure the princess to marry her son, then Madam Nicole would find out who her groom is and have her marry him off. This causes Emily to say: "You do realize that you two got careless as she figures out what you were doing. So now she's keeping important information from both of you. But I am smarter than her and the both of you. So I know of a way to figure this out."

As the sun begins to set at the Lestorm's house. Alex is reading a book in his room, after forcing Charlie to fix the ceiling from the leakage, when Max burst into his room and said: "Alex! Alex! You are not going to believe this!" This causes Alex to close his book and look at Max as he said: "What is it, Max? You upset that you ran out of sweets to eat?" Max then catches his breath as he says: "No… Not that…" This causes Alex to say: "Then what?" After Max manages to catch his breath, he then says: "Duchess Emily just came here and…" This causes Alex to look back into his book as he said: "I know. I saw her from my patio from earlier." But this causes Max to have a laughing fit, which causes Alex to look back at Max and says: "Max, what is wrong with you?!" But then Max says: "Aw, it's a shame. Had you stayed and listened, you would've heard something important." This confuses Alex as he sits up and says: "What are-" "Especially the part where we get to be invited to live in the castle." As Max continues with his laughing fit, Alex is actually shocked to hear this news. But that shock turns to excitement as he says: "Oh man, I can't wait to meet the princess!"

At the front door. After the two have their discussion, Duchess Emily makes her way to her carriage as Albert said: "I can assure you, Duchess Emily. My sons will not disappoint you, they have received an education that is fit for their status." Duchess Emily then enters the carriage as she looks at Dan and says: "Oh, I have no doubt. We'll send someone with a carriage over to your house so that they'll take them to the castle." Dan nodded as he said: "Very well. I will make sure that they are ready." As the two share their goodbyes, the driver starts to drive the carriage as Albert waves goodbye to them. But inside the carriage, Emily and Maximillian looked behind him as Maximillian said: "That poor fool. He really believes that his sons are going to meet the princess." Though Emily sarcastically said: "Oh? And what are you talking about?" This causes Maximillian to say: "Oh, nothing. After all, we all know who's truly the rightful groom for the princess." Emily then says: "The funny thing is that when I mention the royal castle, I discover a trait of Sir Lestorm. He is a prideful man and that makes him an easy target for me. After all, he believes that I chose his sons over thousands of other noblemen when in reality, they were the closest to our house. Let's hope that their sons are as easy to manipulate as much as their father."

The next day. Alex and Max made their way to the living room as Alex said: "Father. We're ready for our trip." And Max said: "Yeah, we even made Charlie pack our best suits." Albert closes the book that he was reading and sees the two in their best. He then stands up and says: "Good. Now, I expect that the two of you will remember the lessons that I have taught you." Albert then walks up to the two as he then says: "Just as long as you remain at your best, I'm sure that you leave an amazing impression with the princess. And when you do so, your chance of becoming royalty shall be yours." As the two brothers get excited about their future, they suddenly hear Charlie saying: "Sorry that it took a while." The two brothers then look and see Charlie with a suitcase in hand. This causes Alex to say: "And what do you think you're doing?" Max then said: "Yeah. Who said that you can come with us?" "Unfortunately, it is I who said that he can come along." Albert said, causing the two brothers to look at his father and say: "What?!" Albert then said: "It was not my call. The Duchess specifically said for three people. I tried my best to persuade, but she was quite stern. And if I did something to offend her, she would have pulled the invitation away." Max then says: "But father. If we show up to the castle with him, we'll be made into laughing stock." Alex then says: "Max is right, father." And as Charlie starts to feel depressed, Albert says: "I know that the both of you don't like it. But sometimes, you'll have to deal with situations that you don't like. But what you can do is use it to your advantage." While it confuses the two brothers, Albert then says: "For example… You can use him to show yourself off." Realizing what he meant, Alex says: "Well… I guess it does make sense." Max then says: "Yeah. Though it's really no contest who is the best."

Once the carriage shows up, Charlie and the two brothers enter the carriage as they head off to the castle. And even though Charlie knew that his two brothers will be doing most of the charm with the princess, at least he gets to see what's in the castle. And if he could meet the princess again, it would be a wonderful experience for him. And when they get close to the castle, they believe that they are entering a wonderful dream. But then, the carriage heads to the right and away from the castle, much to their confusion as Max said: "Huh? Where are they taking us?" Alex then said: "Yeah? Doesn't the driver know that we were supposed to be at the castle?" Charlie is just as confused as his brothers are as they see the server's entrance. But the carriage went past the servant entrance as the three are starting to worry over what their destination is going to be. Eventually, the carriage stops in front of another gate as the three get out of their carriage with their luggage. As the carriage drives off, the three are very confused until Charlie notices a group of soldiers training on the ground as he says: "Look guys, there's soldier training on the ground." The two brothers then notice the soldiers as Max says: "Wait?! You mean this is the soldier's entrance?! Why would they drop us there?!" Alex then says: "I don't know…"

Once they get inside, they discover that the inside is like a headquarters building as there are military gear on the wall. Before they could get the chance to speak, they saw some soldiers entering the room, before noticing a Machamp with a Captain uniform entering the room. As the Machamp looks at the three, the three quickly bow their heads as a sign of respect and greeting. But then the Machamp proceeds to say: "You two! What's with that silly get-up that you're wearing?!" This confuses the three as Alex said: "Huh? What are you-" But the Machamp cuts him off as he said: "These won't do. They will take you two to go wear proper clothing for your duties at hand." The soldiers then proceed to take both Alex and Max away to a separate room as the two brothers are very confused about the situation. The Machamp then looks at Charlie, before proceeding to say: "As for you. Your attire looks fine. These men will take you to a barrack, where you can store your stuff. Then report back to me for your duties." Even though Charlie is surprised, he proceeds to say: "Yes sir."

As it turns out, they were not going to go live in the castle. But instead, they were brought on as peons for their troops. And with their first task is to go and fetch woods for the army with few other peons, both Alex and Max are not happy as Alex says: "This has to be a mistake. Why would they make us do this work?" And as they reach the trees, Charlie and a few peons quickly start cutting the tree down while Max and Alex look up and see how high the tree is. This causes Max to say: "There's no way that we're cutting down that tree. It's way too high." And as Alex says: "Yeah, there's no way I'm-" But then they heard the Machamp saying: "Why aren't you two working!" This causes the two brothers to get scared as they see the Machamp as the Machamp then said: "If you have the energy to talk, then I suggest you use said energy to get to work!" This causes the two brothers to get scared as they both say: "Yes sir…" Later on. They were tasked to bring in weapon supplies to the supply cabin. While Charlie and the other peons can carry the supplies with ease, both Alex and Max are getting very tired from all of the lifting and carrying around. But the Machamp then comes over to see the work himself, before proceeding to say: "Okay, listen up! Once you're done unloading the cart, you'll all go on a break!" Hearing that, the two brothers get excited as Alex says: "Finally. I can't wait to have a large feast." And Max said: "Yeah, me too." But when it's time for their break, the two brothers discover that their meal only consists of a loaf of bread and water. As the two heard the chatter and excitement from the soldiers in the other room, they saw that the other peons were enjoying their bread. The two then look over and see that Charlie is also enjoying his bread.

After a long and stressful day of physical labour. Both Max and Alex collapse on their beds in the barrack as their body is sore from all over. With Alex saying: "Max… My back feels like it's going to break in half. Hurry and give it a massage…" But Max then says: "I can't… My legs are too sore. I need you to go and give them the massage." But Alex then says: "Didn't you hear me, I said that my back is going to break in half." But then they remember Charlie as they look over, only to see that Charlie is asleep on his bed as he is unphased by the physical labour. This causes Max to say: "What's with him? Why is he able to handle all of this?" Alex then says: "It must be the work that he did back home. He must have felt like home." Max then proceeds to say: "Ugh… What gives. Why are we forced to do these physical work when we were supposed to be at the castle." Alex then says: "Hey, don't look at me. I'm just as confused as you are." But then Alex starts to think to himself, before proceeding to say: "Unless… This is all a test to see how determined we are." This causes Max to say: "Huh? What do you mean?" Alex then explains: "I mean when you think about it, being a prince isn't all about parties and hunting. It's all about the responsibilities of running a kingdom. So in other words, they expect us to be our best when it comes to being the princess's groom." Max starts to get it as he says: "Oh, I see. That must be why they didn't tell us yesterday. Though I do expect that they finish this quickly. I can't stand to handle another day of hard labour." Alex then said: "Yeah. Who does that four-arm jerk think he is. Always ordering us around and telling us what to do." But then Alex says: "Still… To think that we get to sleep on the same ground as the princess." Alex then says: "Yeah… And soon, we will be able to marry the princess." The two started to laugh until one of the peons shouted: "Shut up! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

Meanwhile. Zeus is laying on the grass as he is quite hungry since Albert "forgot" to feed him. Shortly after, Jen came over with a napkin full of stuff in her mouth as she carried it over to Zeus. She then placed it on the ground to reveal only a small bit of fruit in the napkin. Jen then said that it was all she could find for him, though Zeus said that it doesn't madder since he's not hungry. But Jen can tell that he's missed having Charlie around. But then they heard a voice saying: "Why hello there, friends." They looked and saw Cinder walking up to them. Cinder then sees that Zeus is sad as she saw: "Is there something wrong?" Jen then explains how Albert forgot to feed Zeus and was only able to scramble up only a small amount of food for him. Upon hearing that, Cinder then says: "I see. Well, do not worry. For the best of the efforts you made, I shall grant them tenfold." Cinder then proceeds to cast the spell at the small bit of fruit, which causes it to expand and multiply as it forms into a small mountain. The mountain of food then proceeds to fall on Zeus as he thanks Cinder, though he also said that he doesn't think he can eat all of it. This causes Cinder to see the error she just made.

The next day, at the castle ground. Charlie, Alex and Max are making their way to the bathhouse under the captain's order as they see that the insides are quite dirty. The Machamp then enters the bathhouse behind them as he says: "Okay, listen up you three. I want you three to go and clean up this bathhouse so that the soldiers can use it." He then leaves the bathhouse as the three grabs the mop and starts cleaning. But then Max proceeds to say: "You know, Alex… Cleaning is more of Charlie's specialty. Why don't we leave this to him?" Alex then said: "You know… You're right. I'm sure he can handle it all by himself." Alex and Max then proceed to drop their mops and head to the door as Charlie notices the two and asks: "Where are you going?" Max then said: "Oh, we're going to go act like recons for Duchess Emily. She worries that someone may try and grab her. So we'll make sure that she stays safe." Alex then says: "And she even mentions that we should tell her anything important the princess mentions. Though she did specifically mention only us. So you will have to do the work that's only fit for you." The two then laugh as they leave the bathhouse as Charlie expects that it would happen, though he doesn't stop them. Charlie then continues to clean the bathhouse as he wonders why Duchess Emily didn't include him.

At the halls of the castle. Max shouts out: "Hello?! Princess Maria?! Are you around here?!" Though this causes Alex to smack the back of Max's head as he says: "Quiet, you blabbermouth. You trying to get the guard's attention?" But Max then says: "Well what's your big plan on getting the princess's attention? Besides, I'm willing to bet that the princess would want to marry me based on my voice." This causes Alex to say: "Ha. As if that would ever happen. Besides, we all know that it will be I that will marry the princess." Max then says: "Oh really. Do you really think that your strength is much better than my speed?" This causes Alex to say: "Then we'll let the princess decide among us." And Max says: "Yeah. Though it's pretty clear that she will pick me." "No, she won't." Alex bickered as the two started another bickering war. What they don't notice is that Princess Maria is walking down the hallway's stairs when she spots the two. Though Alex then says: "You know, why don't we go find the princess first before we continue on with this argument." And Max then says: "Fine by me." As the two brothers head down the hall, Maria shrugs her shoulders as she wonders where they find servers like them as she goes down a different hall.

Meanwhile. Madam Nicole has been hearing rumours from the guards about the two recons that are acting like peons by Duchess Emily and she is heading over to find Captain George to clarify if it's true or not. As she makes her way to the training grounds, she sees George training his platoon on rifles. As George shows one of the platoons how to aim his rifle, Nicole says: "Captain George. A word with you, please." After showing the platoon, he turns around and says: "Sure thing, Madam Nicole. What is it that you request?" Nicole then asks: "I've been hearing rumours about you bringing in a couple of recons for Duchess Emily. Is that true?" This causes George to say: "I see… Well, Duchess Emily indeed requested that I let those two Lestorm boys to go and spy on the princess, I will not honour her request." This causes Nicole to say: "I see. Care to explain?" George then says: "I've seen a lot of people in my days. And these two brothers are about as rotten as they can be. Probably got it from their parents. I expect that they expect everything to be handed to them on the plate. And when there's work involved, they'll probably just run away instead of dealing with it." Nicole was relieved that she won't have to deal with the two brothers as she says: "I see…" But then George proceeds to say: "But if I have to send someone over to keep an eye on her would be that third Lestorm kid, Charlie." Hearing that has caught her attention as she says: "Really? Why him?" George then explains: "Let's just say that he's unlike the other two boys, he has an eye for hard work with a kind heart." This has Nicole curious as she says: "In that case, mind if I see this Charlie?" George then thinks to himself, before proceeding to say: "Very well. But don't expect him to have some free time on his hands."

The two then make their way to the bathhouse as he opens the door as he expects to see the three brothers cleaning the bathhouse. But as he expected and to his surprise at the same time, he saw that not only Charlie has been left alone, but has also managed to clean the entire area in such a short amount of time. And as Charlie says: "Phew… It sure took a while, but I think I got everything done quickly." George starts to look around for any signs of dirt as he says: "How… How did you clean all of it up…?" While that's going on, Nicole looks at Charlie and discovers that it's the same boy that she saw earlier from the ball that managed to capture the princess's heart. While she could just tell Charlie to come to meet the princess, she also knew that as long as Emily's plan to get Maria to marry her son, she wouldn't let any bachelor get in her way. Having examined the whole area, George says: "To think that you manage to clean the whole thing up. While I'm mad that the other two deserted their post, I'm quite proud of the hard work that you have put in." Hearing that has really put a smile on his face, though is later confused about it when Geroge asks: "Speaking of which, have you seen where the other two have gone?" Charlie then says: "Well… They did mention that Duchess Emily asked the two to keep an eye on the princess, in case there's any kidnapping." This causes George to say: "Oh really… Well once my soldiers spot the two, I'll have a good "chat" with them." Charlie then says: "I see… Well is there something else that I could do?" Nicole then gets an idea as she says: "Actually, there is something that you can do."

Meanwhile. Alex and Max are walking down the halls from inside the castle as they search for the princess as they are quite lost as Alex says: "Man… This castle is huge. I wonder if we'll ever find the princess." Just then, Max notices something as he says: "Hey. Take a look at this." This causes Alex to say: "What is it? Did you find the princess?" But when Alex took a look, he only saw Max by a Ralts statue with a small princess dress as Max says: "No. Just this amazing doll that I found. It kinda reminds me of the princess. Don't you agree?" But Alex then says: "I doubt it. It's just a doll that they have. Now let's hurry and find the princess." But then Max spots the princess leaving the room when she sees the two, causing Max to gasp as Alex says: "Now what… You think that a picture is related to the princess?" And Max says: "No… It's the princess, behind you." This causes Alex to say: "What?!" And as he looks behind him and sees nothing as he says: "Where?" Max points to the door that the princess opened as he says: "Through that door, I saw her open that door before she went back inside." But then they heard footsteps as they hid behind a corner of the wall as they saw Princess Maria and a Greninja walking down the hall, before proceeding to enter through the door that Maria just went through. Realizing where the princess's room is, the two proceed to quietly sneak across the hall to where the door Maria went through. Upon doing so, the two lean on the door as Alex whispers: "To think, we are this close to the princess. Don't you agree, Max?" And Max whispers back: "Yeah. I wonder what the princess is doing on the other side of the door."

"You're going out already?" Skarlet said as she hands Maria her casual clothing as Maria then says: "Of course. There's a lovely baker that makes the most wonderful bread and I must go out and get them." As she goes to the patio, Skarlet says: "Okay. But remember, Emily is up to something and I don't know what it is. So be careful." Maria then looks at Skarlet as she says: "Of course. I'll keep an eye out for danger." Maria then proceeds to go over the railing and starts climbing down the vine fence. As she lands on the ground, Skarlet says: "Make sure to bring me back the bread!" Hearing that, Maria makes her way through the castle's ground as she avoids the guards, before slipping through the castle's gates. Once she's in the clear, she proceeds to make her way down the path as she plans to change into her usual casual disguise. But as she goes down the path, she has this rather unease feeling that someone is watching her. But when she looks behind her, she discovers nothing but a pathway back to the castle. She starts to get suspicious as she continues down the path as she wonders if this is a part of Emily's plan. What she doesn't know is that while someone is watching her, that person is actually Charlie as he peeks out from the trees by the path as he says: "Man… I can't believe that the princess would be going to town without her escorts." Charlie then carefully follows Maria as he remembers the discussion with Madam Nicole and Captain George from earlier.

Earlier, back at the bathhouse. Charlie is confused by Madam Nicole's words as the Machamp goes over to Madam Nicole and says: "Madam Nicole. Do you think it's a good idea?" But Madam Nicole then says: "Come now, Captain. You did say that if you must, you would let him go. And since his skills are quite advanced, I believe that it's time for him to take part in his duties." The Captain then thinks to himself, then proceeds to say: "Very well. I'll allow him to be at your disposal." The Captain then leaves the bathhouse as Charlie asks: "Wait… What task?" Madam Nicole then looks at Charlie and explains: "You see. While we would normally have our guards guard our princess, there will be times where we can't spare any units at hand. So I want you to keep an eye on our princess if she has to go somewhere on an important trip to the town." Upon hearing that, Charlie says: "I get it. But doesn't she usually have an escort?" Madam Nicole then says: "She does, but when it comes to important business the princess must go to, there will be times where having an escort would bring more trouble to her. Your job is to keep an eye on her and ensure that she stays safe. Can I trust you to handle it?" Even though Charlie isn't well known for being stealthy, if he can help protect the princess, he will. So Charlie ends up saying: "You can trust me." Madam Nicole smiles as she says: "Good. Then I'll leave the rest up to you." As Charlie leaves the bathhouse, Nicole knows that the stuff about the princess not needing an escort is a lie as she believes that it's a good chance for the two to meet up again, provided the princess doesn't don her disguise again.

Later. Charlie continues to follow the princess down the path. _I know that I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on the princess, but it feels like I'm stalking her… I just hope that she doesn't get the wrong impression of me… _As Charlie continues to keep an eye on the princess, he sees her going over the bridge that leads to town as he stays hidden. Once he sees her gone, he proceeds to head over to the bridge so that he can keep up to her. But when he went past the bridge, he quickly discovered that the princess was gone from the vast number of citizens in the town. As Charlie looks around for her, he becomes confused as he says: "How did the princess manage to disappear quickly?" As Charlie continued to search for the princess, he felt a hand on his shoulder as it caused a bit of scare to him. But when he turns around to see who it was, it turns out to be Maria as she says: "Hey, Charlie. Why so jumpy?" Charlie then says: "Hey Maria… I wish I could talk, but I'm actually on a royal duty right now." This causes Maria to say: "Royal duty?" And Charlie then says: "Yeah. Madam Nicole told me to keep an eye on the princess. But she just disappeared from out of nowhere. Anyway, I need to find her before something bad happens." As Charlie is about to head off, Maria says: "Hey wait. We can look for her together if you want." This causes Charlie to look at Maria and says: "Really? You will?" Maria then says: "Sure. I'm sure that Madam Nicole won't mind having someone helping you." This causes Charlie to say: "Thanks, Maria. Though I've better be careful or I might end up following the wrong Maria." This causes Maria to nervously laugh as she joins Charlie.

As the two venture through the town, the two stop by at the baker so Maria can get some bread for the two before proceeding with their search. As they were searching, Charlie told her about the events that had happened in a couple of days. After hearing that, Maria says: "So you were brought on as peons for the army?" And Charlie replied: "Yes. I have to do a lot of physical labour for the army. Though like I said before, I was later brought on to be a recon so I can keep an eye on the princess." And as Maria says: "I see… But how did you and your brothers get into this?" Charlie then says: "You know, I have no idea. But what I do know is that Duchess Emily asked our father to send the three of us to the castle." This causes Maria to say: "Duchess Emily?!" And Charlie replied: "Yeah. Then she asked both Alex and Max to reconsider the princess, though I don't think the captain was aware of it." _So that must be Emily's plan. She plans on using those two boys to pry any secret info from me so that she can use it as blackmail._ Charlie notices how quiet Maria has become as he says: "Hey, Maria? Is there something wrong?" Maria then looks at Charlie and says: "Oh, no. I'm fine." She then proceeds to hand some bread that was meant for Skarlet as she says: "You want some more bread?" And Charlie chuckles as he says: "No, I'm fine."

Back at the castle. Captain George has gotten word that both Alex and Max are spotted heading back to the bathhouse so that they can avoid getting caught. So he proceeds to make his way to the bathhouse as he knows a way to punish the two deserting brothers. Once he enters the bathhouse, he spots the two and says: "So… Got anything to say?" Alex then says: "What do you mean? We got the place cleaned up, right Max?" Max then says: "Yeah. We've managed to scrub and clean this place from top to bottom." George then says: "Oh really… Then have you cleaned the space that's next to the opening?" This causes Max to say: "There's a space next to the opening?" This causes Alex to elbow Max to try to get him to shut up, but George proceeds to say: "Admit it! You two deliberately left this place and forced that other boy to clean up the room!" The two were scared of what George would do as Alex says: "Okay, maybe we left him alone for a while. But it's not like he-" "I don't want to hear your excuses!" George says as he cuts Alex off, before proceeding to say: "And I happened to have the perfect punishment for you two deserters."

Inside the castle's halls. Both Alex and Max are wiping the floors as punishment for deserting their duties. As the two continue to clean the floors from both ends, the two are clearly frustrated by doing this punishment as Max says: "This punishment is really harshed…" But then the two collide with each other from their backs, causing the two to turn around and get angry at each other as Alex says: "Hey! Watch it!" While Max says: "Me?! You were the one that invaded my space!" "I did not! You were the one that invaded my space! And you're not even doing it right!" Alex says as he grabs Max, but he pushes Alex away as he says: "Don't grab me! Besides, I'm a much better cleaner than you!" "Oh yeah…" Alex says as Max replied: "Yeah!" The two start to bicker as they start ruffling with each other. The two struggle to beat each other as they move to the side of the hall. But then the two tripped as they fell onto the ground and ended up crashing onto the pedestal, which caused the Ralts statue to fall and break apart on the ground. The two then slowly get up as they notice the broken statue as Max says: "Um… That can't be good… Right?" "Ahem!" Said a very angry woman as both Max and Alex got scared, before proceeding to look at their side as they saw a very angry Madam Nicole in front of them.

As the sun starts to set, George has brought Alex, Max and Charlie over as he heard the news about the statue breaking apart by the two brothers as George says: "It's pretty much safe to say that you two screwed this up big time. Breaking a statue that was around for generations is a serious madder. If you can't save a statue that's been around for a long time, how can you expect to save the princess." As Alex and Max are depressed and speechless, he looks over to Charlie and says: "As for you. It's a shame that you have to return home after you have managed to bring in a lot of good work. I can see nothing but a bright future ahead of you, Charlie." Charlie bow as he says: "Thank you, sir." Even though Charlie was offered a position to be by the Princess's side as her recon, he couldn't bear the thought of leaving his family and friends back home. As George sees the carriage that has the three brothers leave the castle grounds, Madam Nicole walks up to him and says: "So, Captain. Mind if I ask you a simple question?" George then looks at Madam Nicole and says: "Sure thing, Madam Nicole." Madam Nicole then asks: "Do you think that Charlie would fit well as the princess's groom?" George then proceeds to think to himself about her question, but then proceeds to say: "If he were to become the princess's groom… Then I can see a bright future for the princess. After all, he is a bright boy and I know my instinct hasn't failed me yet." Madam Nicole giggles as she then says: "I must agree…"

"Captain George!" Said Emily as she burst into the room as George looked at her. Emily then says: "Why did you fire those boys without consulting with me?!" George then says: "With all due respect, Duchess Emily. The two of the three boys that you hired have proved to be incompetent with their duties, so I have no choice. After all, I was following orders." This causes Emily to say: "Oh? And who ordered you to fire them?" "I did!" Said Maria as she entered the room. Maria then says: "Unless you haven't heard, those two brothers had destroyed a family heirloom." This causes Emily to say: "I see… I didn't know…" But Emily knew that the statue that the two broke is not a family heirloom, but rather a two-month-old statue that Oracle bought for decorations. Emily then believes that Maria must have found out about her plan and use the broken statue as an excuse to fire the boys. To think that she would force these two innocent boys into her selfish desire is disgusting. And I will make sure that it will never happen again. Maria then says: "For now on, Captain George and I will decide who will stand by my side as recon. Do I make myself clear, Emily?" Emily then proceeds to say: "As you wish, your highness." As Maria makes her leave, Emily wonders if Maria is catching on to her plans.

Back at the Lestorm's house. Charlie is making his way to the kitchen when he's greeted by a very excited Zeus and Jen, who clearly missed him. This causes Charlie to laugh as he says: "Hey guys! Glad to see you two again!" While they're enjoying the fun moment, Cinder watches from the distance as she's happy that he hasn't lost his spirit. After they had their moment, Charlie made his way to the kitchen and saw that the place was quite a mess with dirty plates and cups. Charlie then sees Albert with a cup of tea in his hand as he says: "Welcome back, Charlie. I know that you had just arrived and all, but we were having quite a party while you were gone. I was going to clean it up, but now that you're here…" Charlie understands where this is going as he says: "Yes, father. I'll clean it up right away." But suddenly, Max and Alex enter the kitchen as Alex says: "Hold on! Let us take care of the mess!" As the two start to clean the plates with Charlie looking confused, Albert says: "Alex, Max. What are you two-" Max then says: "Haven't you heard, the princess loves a prince who does duties around the house. We can just let Charlie relax for a while while we do the work." This really confused both Albert and Charlie as Charlie says: "Um… Are you two okay?" Alex then says: "Yeah, we're fine. Now get going and get relaxed. We have a lot of work to do." As Charlie says: "Okay then." Albert looks at his cup of tea as he says: "I think I have enough tea for today…" What the two don't know is that Cinder had cast a spell at the two brothers to do the work. Though she later says: "Goodness… I think I may have gone overboard. Maybe I should just limit the two to the kitchen… Or I could put the Duke to work."


	15. The Tale of Two Princesses

**The tale of two princesses**

At the Lestorm's house. Albert is observing Alex, Max and Charlie as the three are carving wooden models out of wood as Ruby watches them. But Albert notices that Max and Alex are struggling as Albert says: "You two. You're doing it all wrong. You're supposed to be sculpting the wood carefully." Alex then looked at his father and said: "Give me a break. It's a lot harder than it looks." But Albert then says: "Then take a look at how Charlie is doing and copy from him." But Max then says: "But father. None of our family is really that good at this…" But Albert says: "What are you even saying? Have you forgotten about the lessons that I taught you? Cause you couldn't even get to keep your recon jobs long enough for you to meet the princess." But Alex then says: "Maybe we aren't as sneaky as we thought…" But Albert then says: "Nonsense!" "I'm finished!" Charlie said as both Alex and Max looked at Charlie as he had a wooden Gallade figure on his hand. This causes both Alex and Max to be amazed as Max says: "Wow… That's pretty good, Charlie." Charlie then says: "Thanks. My father taught me how to make sculptures from the wood that he carved. Though mine is not that better than his…" This causes Alex to say: "How can you tell?" Max then says: "Yeah. Yours is clearly better than ours by a long shot."

Not wanting to hear those words, Albert stands up and heads towards Charlie before proceeding to swipe the wooden model from Charlie. Albert then examines the model as Albert then says: "No. Charlie is right. Despite how it looks good, it still has a lot of rough edges. It makes it unsuitable for a princess." He then tosses the model into the trash, which hurt Charlie since while he knows it's not as good as his father, he knows it isn't that bad. Albert then says: "Besides. There are other skills that we can do to impress the princess besides making wooden dolls." But this confuses the two brothers as Alex says: "Hold on… Didn't you say that all noblemen must require a proper skill to impress the princess?" And Max says: "Yeah. You just said that a-" But Albert cuts Max off as he says: "While it's important to have a proper skill, it's also important to have the right style of clothing at hand. Otherwise, you will never get noticed by anyone. You would be surprised how wearing the right clothes can make a simple carpenter son look like he belongs in a royal family." Albert then turns around and yells: "Cesar! Prepare a carriage for us, we're going to town!" He then looks back as he says: "We'll head into town and see what new line of clothing our clerks have received. Then I'll get the both of you some serious line of clothing that I know will get the princess to notice you."

Meanwhile, at the castle. Princess Maria and Skarlet are heading down the hall as Skarlet says: "And your point, Maria?" Maria then says: "I just need you to be my heir for the day and in exchange, I'll take care of the duties that you have." Skarlet is suspicious as she says: "I don't know… If I knew what you were planning, I might take your offer." But Maria then says: "Oh come on. You've managed to be me lots of time. I'm sure that you can do it again. It's really important that you do this as I really need some time off. I'll even give you anything you want." Maria then moves in front of Skarlet as she says: "Please. I'll even lend you my favourite dress for the party. What do you say?" Skarlet was getting annoyed as she said: "Maria…" Maria then proceeds to hug Skarlet as she says: "Hey. It would be very im-princess if you agree." Maria then starts to laugh as Skarlet says: "Don't joke around…" Maria then proceeds to head down the hall as she says: "Oh come now." As Skarlet says: "Maria!" Maria runs down the hall until she spots a maid leaving the room with a handful of clothing. This causes Maria to stop in her tracks as she says: "What's going on?" The maid then looks at Maria and says: "Hello, your highness. I was told to bring these clothes over and have them cleaned and prepped for you." Maria then notices the pink dress that was on top of the handful of clothing the maid has as she examines it. Upon doing so, Maria then says: "I see." She then places the dress back as the maid bow her head before saying: "I'll be on my way." She then heads down the hall as Skarlet catches up to Maria and asks: "What's going on?" Maria then explained: "I don't know. But that dress is brand new, I haven't even worn it yet." Skarlet then asks: "Do you think she took it by mistake?" And Maria says: "I think so…"

In the town. Cesar is driving the carriage on the street with Charlie by his side since Albert "claims" that there isn't enough room in the back. But what they don't know is that Zeus and Jen are following them from behind, since the two know that Albert always has something cruel in his mind for Charlie and they'll do what they can to help him. After they reach their destination, the family gets out of the carriage as Albert says: "Cesar. We'll be shopping here for an hour. I expect you to come back when we're done." Cesar then says: "As you wish sir." As Charlie gets out of the carriage, Albert then says: "As for you two. I want you to go and find the best suits that you can find." This causes Alex to say: "Thanks, father. You are too kind." And Max says: "Yeah! Time to show the town our best suits!" But before they could get the chance to move, they heard the crowd running nearby as they turned and saw some people running past them. As more people go past them, Alex says: "What the?! Where are these people going?!" Albert then looks over to where the group of people are going as Albert says: "From the looks of it, there's something serious going on. We better go check it out." As Albert follows the people, Max, Alex and Charlie proceed to follow Albert as Alex says: "Hey! Wait for us!"

When they arrived, they saw a large group of people in front of them. Wanting to know what's going on, Albert asks: "Excuse me. What's going on here?" One of the people from the crowd looks at Albert and says: "The princess from the castle is taking a tour in the village." Hearing that excites the two brothers as Albert says: "I see." As Max jumps in the air to catch the glimpse of the royal carriage, Alex says: "Oh boy! I can't wait to see the princess!" Charlie is excited as well to see the princess, until he notices the carriage is not the royal carriage that Princess Maria uses, causing Charlie to say: "Are you sure that's the princess?" Alex then notices the same carriage as he says: "Yeah… I don't see the code of arms on the carriage." Max then says: "Not only that, but I also don't even see any escorts around. This is starting to get suspicious…" Alex then says: "Besides, we'll know if it is the real princess since we managed to get a good look at her face." And Max then says: "He's right. We know what the real princess looks like and what her royal carriage should look like." However. Despite Charlie and the brothers' suspicions, they see the curtains from the carriage opening. And then it reveals that inside the carriage is none other than Princess Maria in a pink dress. That alone has got the citizens excited and surprised Charlie. As the carriage starts to drive off, the citizens start to give chase, including Alex and Max as Max yells: "Wait, Princess Maria! Wait for us!" What the citizens didn't know is that there's a gang behind him that are watching this as the leader says: "Good. It looks like they bought our "princess"."

Meanwhile. After Maria manages to convince Skarlet to take her place and make her way to town in disguise, she relaxes on a small ledge as she enjoys her berries from her bag. But then the sounds of a carriage and people running has caught her attention as she looks over and says: "What the...?" She proceeds to go on her feet as she checks it out, only for Alex and Max to bump into her as she drops her bag and falls to the ground. But Alex and Max continue on their way as Alex says: "Hurry up! We can't lose her!" Getting annoyed, Maria got on her feet as she looked at the two and said: "What's with those two." As she goes to pick up the bag, she ends up getting tackled to the ground again as she drops her bag again. She was starting to get angry until she heard a familiar voice saying: "I'm sorry about that…" And Maria went to look, she saw Charlie as he was getting up while he said: "Oh. Hello Maria." Maria then got up from the ground as she said: "Hey Charlie… Mind filling me in on what's going on…" Charlie then explained: "Didn't you hear? Princess Maria is doing a tour in the carriage here. You can see it over there." Maria then looks over and sees the carriage driving away with the citizens chasing it. As Maria gets up from the ground, she starts to laugh as she then says: "Oh come on. Do they really believe that the princess would be there?" She knew it since she was not informed that she would be going on a tour, even as last-minute information goes. And even if she was, she would have her escorts protect her.

But Charlie then says: "That's what I thought at first. But then we all saw the actual Princess peek out the window. Here, I'll show you." Charlie then grabs Maria and starts to drag her to the crowd so he can show Maria the "real" princess. But when they get close, Maria quickly sees what Charlie meant as she sees "herself" from inside the carriage. The two then stop as Charlie says: "You see. There's Princess Maria in the carriage." As Charlie waves as he says: "Hey! Princess Maria!" Maria sees the carriage moving further away as she can't believe how the imposter has managed to convince the citizens that she's the princess. Charlie then looks at Maria and says: "You know… It's not every day that we get something exciting in this village." Maria then remembers that the imposter is also wearing the pink dress, the very same pink dress that the maid has brought out from out of her room when she told her that she was going to clean them._ I don't know if that maid I talk to is part of the imposter's plan or not. But I got to figure out what they're planning._

"Well… At least I won't have to carry any new suits for my father and brothers since they went after the princess." Charlie said as he spots Tony walking down the street with Capra as he says: "Oh! Hey, Tony!" Tony then spots the two as he says: "Charlie?" Charlie then says: "Have you noticed the princess in that carriage?" Tony then asks: "You mean the carriage that went past me?" And Charlie says: "Yeah." Tony then replied: "Eh, I don't care about stuff like that." Noticing how miserable Tony is, Charlie asks: "What's wrong, Tony? You don't seem to be happy." Tony then sighs as he says: "Well… We're just not having a good day, today." Charlie then smiles as he says: "What's wrong? Did they figure out your fortune scheme?" But Tony says: "It's not a scheme!" Charlie then says: "Okay, okay. What happened." Tony then says: "It's just that I haven't seen May for a while." This causes Maria to say: "May? Who's May?" Tony then explains: "May's a good friend to us. But when she was low on money, she came to us to borrow some as she promised to pay us back. The next thing we heard after we lent her some money, she went off to become an actress as May the Double Face. We wanted to come to one of her shows, but we haven't heard her since. I know that she's not a crook or a thief." Maria then asks: "Do you think she's working out of town?" And Tony says: "No. If she was, we would have known." Tony then looks at Maria, before looking back at Charlie and says: "Actually… I'm pretty sure that May could pull off your friend Maria." Hearing that has caught her attention as Charlie says: "Really? But there has to be an explanation on why she hasn't responded to you?" And Maria says: "The only way to find out is if we follow that carriage." Nearby, Zeus and Jen overheard the three as Zeus says that he can find the carriage if his nose, while Jen says that the two should let them know.

At the mountain range. The gang makes their way through the rocky path as they make their way to the abandoned house. As it turns out, the gang leader turns out to be Razor and his lackeys as they enter the house as Razor says: "The whole town believed that the princess went on the tour, Nier." Inside the room is the "princess" and a Cacturne that was called Nier as Nier got up from his chair and said: "Excellent. I knew our little "test" managed to work." But Razor then says: "Yes, we've managed to convince the town. But the castle is a different story and I don't know if we can fool them." And Nier simply explained: "Do not worry. My experience as a royal teacher has given me the knowledge on how to act properly. And I'm fully convinced that I can transform the actress into a proper princess." As Nier starts to laugh, the "princess" gets up and says: "You shouldn't worry. I can impersonate anyone. They wouldn't call me May the Doubleface if I couldn't impersonate Princess Maria." As May starts to laugh, Razor says: "Well. For all our sakes, we hope that you do."

It turns out that the "princess" that the town saw was actually May the Double Face. However, to ensure that the kingdom is fooled, Nier set up a table that the royal family would eat and have May sit at the table. Nier then explains: "Now whatever you do, you must keep your composure at all times. And if you were to accidentally drop either your fork, knife or spoon, remain seated and continue eating as if nothing happens." May then says: "Gotcha." She then looks at the meal and says: "Thank you for the meal." She then grabs her fork and knife and starts to cut away from the meat. But she struggles to cut the meat as she says: "Come on… Come on…" But then she accidentally bumped the plate and caused the meat to fly over and landed on Nier's head. Nier got angry as he said: "May! What are you doing?!" May then says: "I'm sorry. But the meat was too tough to cut. But I can do better on the next try." Even though Nier was annoyed, he quickly prepared another meat for May. May then proceeds to cut the meat properly as she starts to scarf down the meat quickly, before proceeding to quickly drink the wine on the table. Once she's done with her wine, she wipes her face as she says: "Man, that was a great meal! I can't wait for dessert!" Nier then looks over to Razor to see if he's happy, but Razor simply shook his head.

In the next session. Nier is conducting his dancing lesson for May as they dance gracefully on the floor, or at the very least, trying to dance gracefully. As Nier says: "Now remember. It's 1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4. Then it's 1,2 and hold. Then 1,2." But May was pretty confused as she said: "Wait? Is it this 1,2,3,4? Or is this 1,2,3,4? Or am I supposed to do 3 like this? Or is that supposed to be-" But in the midst of the confusion, May ended up accidentally hitting her leg on Nier's spikey part of his leg, which causes the two of them to yell out in pain as the two of them fell to the ground. As May rubs her leg in pain, she looks at Nier and says: "Sorry, sir. I've lost track with what 1 and 3 does and which 1 and 2 I should go with…" But Nier simply said: "Enough with the numbers. We'll just have to deal with the dancing portion later." Nier then looks at Razor and says: "Mr. Sharp, she's all yours."

The next session. Razor and May are conducting a sword fight while using fake swords. And even though Razor is much more skilled than May, he decides to go easy on her to give her a fighting chance. But as the blade clashes, May starts to panic as she has no idea how to use her fake sword. And as Razor strikes at May, she tries to block the sword strikes as she backs up. Razor continues with his strikes as May starts to get scared. But just as May's back is up to the wall, Razor proceeds to knock May's fake sword away from her, before pointing the fake sword at her throat. As May froze in fear, Nier was watching the whole thing as he said: "What are you doing, May?! Why didn't you attempt to fight back?!" Razor then says: "Consider yourself lucky that these are fake swords and that I was going easy on you. Cause if this was a real battle, any thug would cut you down without remorse." He then proceeds to pull his sword away before proceeding to stab the wall next to her, which causes May to slide onto the ground as she's feeling defeated at this point.

Meanwhile. Charlie, Maria, Tony and Capra are following Zeus and Jen to where the carriage has gone. While the four are following Zeus and Jen, Maria told both Charlie and Tony about the possible danger May may be in, causing Tony to say: "Wait? Are you saying that my friend is being roped into a dangerous situation?" Charlie then asks: "And what does that have to do with the princess in the carriage that we saw back at the village?" Before Maria could answer Charlie's question, she looks at Zeus and says: "Keep it up, Zeus. You're doing great." Zeus then turns around and lets out a bark, before he continues with his scent following. Maria then looks at the two and says: "I don't know the details. But what I do know is that your friend May is being taken advantage of as a ploy to replace Princess Maria. And once that deed is done, your friend would be in danger." But this causes Tony and Charlie to stop as Tony says: "Okay, now you're being silly." Charlie then says: "Yeah. Enough with the lies. There's no possibility that the princess that we saw is a fake." Even though Maria knew that since she is a princess, she simply says: "I'm sure it is. After all, with the carriage being wrong and the fact that your friend could disguise herself as me, tells me that there's a connection. And we'll know for sure is that we follow your Mightyena." Maria then continues to follow the two as Charlie and Tony were confused, but still, follow them.

Eventually. The group managed to reach the mountain range as they noticed the house down below. But then Charlie notices the carriage and says: "There! There's the carriage that we saw!" And Tony then says: "But why would the princess come all the way over here?" Maria then says: "The only thing we knew is that this house is quite suspicious." Charlie then says: "Wait? Are you saying that there is an imposter?" But Tony then says: "No. I'm certain that I saw the princess. Even though I only saw portraits of her, I've managed to get a good look at her." Maria then says: "If you believe so, then we may have ourselves two Princess Marias' going around." But this causes Charlie to say: "But that can't be true. We all know that Princess Maria is an only child." But then Maria notices something as she shushes and says: "Get down." As the group ducks down, they see the gang leaving the house. But then Charlie notices the Pangoro and remembers the event that happened to him as he says: "Wait. That Pangoro. I know that guy." As the gang ride out of the mountain range, Charlie then says: "He's the one that runs that bandit gang. Why would they be doing at this house?" Maria then says: "The only way we know is if we examine inside. We've better find a window to peek through." As the three stand up and make their way to the house, what they don't see is Cinder teleporting behind them and says: "I'll keep an eye on them and see if they need my help."

When the group finds a cliff that leads to the roof with a few windows, they make their way onto the roof as they peek down on the window. And when they did it, they discovered not only the "princess" but also a Cacturne as the princess bows down while lifting her dress. But this causes the Cacturne to say: "No. No. No. You're lifting the dress too much. You would only give the people the wrong impression!" Maria then looks at Tony and asks: "Is that May?" Tony then looks at the princess and says: "It could be… But she doesn't have clothes like that?" Maria then looks back at the two as she looks at the Cacturne as she recalls hearing a story about a royal teacher called Nier was caught embellishing money out of the kingdom and was cut from his duties, so she figures that he must be a part of the scheme. Nier then says: "Now… Just give me a proper greeting." This causes the princess to say: "O-Okay…" But then the princess quickly bows down with her back as she says: "Good morning your highness! I hope that I can perform my duties today!" But this causes Nier to angrily say: "No! You're not a servant! You're a princess!" Seeing their comedy routine has caused the group to laugh as a chip of the ceiling falls onto the ground, catching Neir's attention. As Nier says: "Huh? What the… Who's up there?!" The group hides from sight as Charlie says: "What do we do? He's bound to find us." Before Maria could say something, Jen suddenly jumps through the window as the glass breaks apart as it startles Neir and the princess. As Jen lands on the ground and growls at Nier, Nier panicky says: "H-Huh?! W-When did a P-Persian get on the roof?!" As Jen continues to growl, Nier quickly says: "M-May! Hurry up and get this Persian out of here, now!" This causes Tony to look back and says: "Wait? It is May?" Maria then says: "I should've known they would do something like this."

As May drags Jen out of the house, she says: "Out you go. I can't have you go and scare Nier off like that." Once she lets Jen out, she starts to run away as May starts to smile as she finally did something right for once. But before she could enter back inside, she felt her shoulder being grabbed as she heard: "Wait, May." She then turns around and sees both Tony and Capra as she says: "Tony?! Capra?! What are you doing here?! And how did you find me?!" Tony then says: "Before we tell you, we wanted to know what you were doing here. And why are you dressed up like that?" May then says: "Well if you must know. I've actually been hired by the commander from the castle to play the role of Princess Maria. And if I manage to do a good job, then I can pay both of you back in tenfold." "And what sort of paid gig that you were hired for?" Maria says as May turns around and sees both Maria and Charlie, which causes May to say: "Huh? Who are you two?"

As Cinder hides behind some rocks, Tony explains the situation to May about why they are here, as well as who Charlie, Maria, Zeus and Jen are. Once she gets the info, May then says: "You see. The castle has received a very serious threat from an assassin. And the commander notices my skills of imitation and has hired me to play the role of Princess Maria, while the real Princess Maria is at a secret location." This causes Tony to laugh as he says: "And you think you can fool the town with that?" May then proceeds to say: "Hey! Even though I made a few mistakes from time to time, I can still pull off the whole princess look." Charlie then says: "Well, at least you manage to get the princess part right." Charlie starts to laugh until they hear Nier shouting: "May?! May! Where are you?! Come back here so we can work on your skills!" As May sighs, Cinder proceeds to say: "My, it appears that man needs to learn a lesson about patience. So I'll keep him occupied for a while." Cinder then proceeds to cast the spell at some rock chunks, which causes them to transform into Arcanines. The Arcanines then proceed to head down the hill as they go past the group, which startles them as May says: "What the?!" The Arcanines then proceed to run into the house as the next thing they hear is the Arcanines barking and Nier shouting: "Huh?! Where did you beasts come from?! May! May! Get over here, now!" This gives the chance for Maria to ask: "May. Who was that Pangoro?" May then says: "Oh, him? That's Mr. Sharp, the commander of the army." "The commander of the army…" Maria says as she then says: "Listen, mind if I borrow your dress for a while?" This causes May to say: "Eh?!" Charlie then says: "Why would you want to do that, Maria?" But then May says: "Oh… Now I get it, you want to take my place and take the reward for yourself. Well, I ain't falling for it. See ya." But before May could take off, Maria grabbed her as she said: "Wait a minute. That's not my intention at all. Your life would be in danger if you can't convince them." This causes May to say: "Huh?! What on earth are you talking about?!" Maria then says: "Those people who you thought work at the castle are the real assassins, May."

"Help! Someone! Help me!" Nier screams as he begs for his life. But when he looks down, he discovers a bunch of rock chunks on the floor. He sighs as he says: "Okay… Now I'm seeing things… I need a few days off after this..." As he slides down, he looks around until he sees May at the door, causing Nier to say: "There you are! Where were you when I needed your help?!" This causes May to say: "I didn't know what to do. I thought that you were doing a play since you think those rocks are Arcanines…" This causes Nier to clear his throat as he says: "W-Well let's just forget about that and get back to where we are… Okay…" After all, if something else decides to jump down from the roof, you must remain your composer. Now… Give me a proper salute." May then proceeds to bow her head as she lifts her dress properly as she gives Nier a proper greeting. That alone has shocked Nier as he looks at her to see if she is giving off any signs of a mistake.

What Nier doesn't know is that the May in the room is actually the real Princess Maria. And at the roof, Charlie, Tony and May are looking at the scene as Charlie says: "Wow… She managed to pull that off like it was nothing." And Tony then says: "Yeah. It's like second nature to her." Though May then says: "Eh. I can do it better." They then hear Nier say: "Finally. You've managed to pull off the greeting. Well done, well done. But now let's head back to dancing. Just do what I do." Charlie then sees the two dancing as they dance gracefully, which surprises Charlie as he says: "I can't believe that she's a natural dancer as well…" Just as the group is watching the dance, the sounds of Zebstrikas' clopping has caught their attention as they look and see Razor and his gang. This causes Charlie to say: "Oh no… Not now… I hope that Maria can get out of this unscathed…" They then see Razor and his gang entering the house.

As Nier and Maria dance, they hear the door opening as Nier says: "Ah. Welcome back." The two then stop dancing as Nier then says: "You're here quite early. Is there something wrong?" Razor then walks up to the two as he says: "We received word from Duchess Emily." And as Nier says: "Oh?" Razor then says: "She isn't happy with the news and if you can't get her up in line, you'll have to find a new replacement." _So Emily is the one that's behind this scheme. I figure that if she can't get me to marry Dan, she would find a fake "me" to marry him off._ Nier then says: "Mr. Sharp. Your worries are not needed as I have managed to change a simple peasant into a proper princess." Nier then looks at Maria and says: "Oh, May. Mind giving our lovely guests your greeting?" Maria then gets an idea to foil her plan and decides to mess with Razor as Maria says: "Sure thing Mister." She then gets onto her knees as she bows her head and says: "Welcome, master. What can I do for you?" By performing an obviously wrong greeting, Razor has gotten angry as Nier was shocked as he says: "What are you doing, May?! What happened to that earlier greeting that you did perfectly?!" She then gets on her feet as she then says: "Then how about a dance?" Maria then grabs Nier and starts to drag him around roughly as she dances poorly.

This causes Razor to be at his breaking point as he pulls out his small sword and shouts: "You fraud! We are through!" As Maria stops her obviously bad dancing and lets Nier go, Nier sees the sword and panics as he runs away. Maria, on the other hand, proceeds to say: "Oh, you want a duel? Then I'll gladly give it to you." Maria then grabs the sword from the wall and pulls out the sheathe, before proceeding to charge towards Razor. Razor tries to prepare his defence, but Maria manages to knock his sword away, before proceeding to point the sword at his throat as she says: "Okay wise guy, I figure out your little trick. You were going to use me as a pawn to your little plan to take over the kingdom with that Duchess, right?" This causes Razor to say: "Tch. Have you kept your mouth shut, I would have let you go with a simple scare. But now you know too much." Back on the roof, May is getting angry as she says: "Maria is right. They are imposters." And as Tony says: "I can't believe that you were dealing with those guys, May." This causes May to say: "Oh… I 'll make sure that they pay for this!" She then leaves the roof to get her revenge.

Back below. Razor's gang pulls out their swords to back up Razor until Razor says: "Back off, boys. She's mine." And as one of the gangs says: "But sir, you're-" Razor cuts him off by saying: "Don't bother, she's just got lucky. After all, she is still a rookie!" Razor then proceeds to knee Maria in the stomach and causes her to stumble back while holding on to her sword, allowing Razor to pull out his larger sword as he says: "Besides, there's no way that she can defeat me!" Razor then proceeds to slash at Maria as she manages to dodge the slash as the two cross blades. As the two continue to cross blades, Razor says: "What's with you? When did you get the courage to fight back?" As Maria manages to get close to Razor, she says: "Let's just say I have a better teacher, Mr. Dull." Razor then pushes Maria away as he slashes at her, but Maria manages to jump over him as she lands on some stairs. Razor then turns around as the two clash blades again as Razor says: "Hmph, you're still a rookie. But as far as rookie goes, you ain't that bad." And as Maria says: "I've beaten better swordsman than you" The two continue to clash. Meanwhile, May manages to get inside as she says: "I'll show those fakers not to mess with me." But then she notices a suit of armour holding a weapon and a sword as she stops and pulls the sword as she says: "I'll be right back." She then runs down the hall with the sword as Charlie and Tony follow her as Charlie says: "What is May going to do?"

Back at the fight. The two continue to clash with each other as Razor is at the advantage. Maria then tries to lunge her short sword at Razor, but he manages to not only dodge the blade but also grab it with his hand. This shocks Maria as Razor starts to laugh. Nearby, May enters the room with her sword at hand as she sees the gang. She then starts to get nervous as she says: "H-Hold it… I won't let you…" While none of the people can hear her, what May doesn't know is that Cinder is watching her from the roof as she says: "This girl shows a lot of courage. Now it's time to give her confidence." Cinder then proceeds to cast her spell at May and the sword she's carrying, which causes the confused May to transform into Princess Maria and the sword into her rapier. After May looks at herself, she decides to go with it as she says: "Hold it!" This causes Razor and the gang to look behind them as Razor says: "Now what…" May then says: "I know about your evil deeds, Razor. And how you plot to take over the kingdom with a fake decoy. As long as I can still hold my sword, I will make sure that you will get punished." And as Razor says: "W-What…" Nier was hiding behind a pillar as he noticed the two Gardevoirs as he said: "H-Huh?! T-There's two of them?!" May then charges at Razor with her rapier as she says: "En garde, Razor!" The two then clash swords as Razor barely manages to push May away. As May and Maria clash with Razor, Nier is watching the whole thing as he says: "B-But…B-But… Where did she come from...? There can't be two princesses… Who's the real Princess Maria…?"

Seeing that Razor is outnumbered, one of the gang members says: "Razor's in trouble!" One of the other gang members said: "Let's get them!" The gang members then charged towards the three, when one of the gang members got knocked out by a rock, while the other two stopped to see what happened. Just then, they heard a voice saying: "Oops, did I do that?" The two then looked at the source of the voice and spotted Tony tossing a few pebbles in the air as he says: "I guess my rock tossing skills are too effective." The two gang members then look at each other as one of them looks at Razor to signal the other to go help Razor while the other gang member nodded. They then split off as the gang member tries to attack Tony, but he gets knocked out by a different rock. As it turns out, Capra was the one that teleported rocks onto their heads as he heads towards Tony as Tony says: "Nice one, Capra." Nearby, just as the last gang member is heading towards Razor, Charlie knocks him out with a vase as he says: "Sorry, but I don't intend on letting you hurt my friends."

As Nier continues to hide, he suddenly hears a loud bark nearby as he gets spooked. He quickly looks around until he sees Zeus and Jen growling at him, causing Nier to panic as he says: "S-Stay away... S-Stay away y-you w-wretched beasts…" He quickly bolts over to Razor as he's fending off the two and says: "Razor! Help me!" Getting fed up, Razor tosses his sword aside and pulls out his flintlock pistol and points at the two as he says: "That does it! Lay down your weapons and surrender now!" As the two held their position, Cinder watches the situation as she says: "I don't like it when they don't play fair, so I should go and take that away." She then cast her spell at Razor's gun, causing his gun to fire prematurely. But the gun only spews out confetti, which confuses Razor, Maria and May. This causes Razor to throw his gun on the ground as he says: "Forget it! We're out of here!" Razor then proceeds to run away with the gang members that managed to get their consciousness back as they quickly got on their Zebstrikas and flee the area, with Nier running at the gang as he says: "Wait! Come back! I'll do anything you want! Just don't leave me here! Razor!"

After the whole ordeal is over and Cinder's spell on May runs out, Charlie looks down at the house as he says: "Well… At least we won't have to worry about the fake princess anymore." Maria then says: "Yeah. Though I am glad that nothing bad happened to you, Charlie." Charlie then says: "Yeah, the same goes with you, Maria. Though, there is something that I need to ask. How did you manage to greet and dance like a princess? And where did you learn to fight like that?" This causes Maria to fluster as she says: "O-Oh… Um…" May then says: "Yeah. With skills like that, you can become an actress. You could even perform as Princess Maria if you want." Maria then looks at May as she starts to laugh as she says: "Thanks for the offer. But you were quite amazing for an actress." She then looks at Charlie as she says: "Besides. What's important is that we've managed to not only save May, but we also get to see her perform as the princess." May then proceeds to bow as she says: "We sure have, your highness. Their trickery and dishonesty is no match for our heart and love." As the three laughs, Charlie says: "Yeah. It's still surprising that both of you look like the princess." As the group laughs, Cinder watches them with a smile on her face as she says: "If only Charlie came close to finding out Princess Maria's secret."


	16. The Princess And the House Work

**The Princess and the House Work**

As the sun shines over at the Lestorm's house, Charlie slowly opens his eyes as he feels weak today. As he hears Albert's voice saying: "Charlie! Charlie! Get down here at once!" Charlie starts to cough as he feels like his body is on fire and his throat is quite sore. He knew right then and there, he is sick from an illness. But as much as he wants to stay in his room and rest, he knows that Albert won't let him rest as he slowly turns his head to the stairs as he says: "Uuuhhh… Father…" He then heard Albert's voice saying: "Charlie!" Charlie then slowly got up from his bed as he turned to the side of his bed and got out. Eventually, Charlie can change into his clothing and slowly makes his way down the stairs as Albert says: "About time you show up. I was about to come and get your lazy self." As Charlie reaches the bottom of the stairs, he says: "I'm sorry…" Albert then says: "No madder. I want you to clean the garden, wipe and dust the living room, chop some wood, clean the floors and prep dinner for us. And today, we're having Duchess Emily coming over for supper and I want things to be perfect."

After Charlie is forced to make breakfast for them. He made his way outside as he started to sweep the ground. But due to his illness, he is cleaning the ground more slowly than usual. As Charlie continues to clean, Zeus and Jen are watching him and are worried about him as they see him moving unusually. Jen proceeds to go over to Charlie and look at his face as she discovers the symptoms of an illness. Jen then lets Zeus know that Charlie is sick, which causes Zeus to go over and pull on Charlie's leg to get him some rest. But Charlie then says: "I can't… I have to get the job done… I'm already behind as it is…" Even though Charlie knows that Zeus and Jen are trying to help him, he can't risk leaving his work post so that Albert would scold him by making him do more chores. And with an added pressure of Duchess Emily coming over to visit them, he has no way of stopping his chores. As Zeus starts to whine, Charlie says: "It'll be okay…"

Meanwhile, at the castle. Madam Nicole is observing both Princess Maria and Skarlet as they paint a portrait of some flowers in a vase as Nicole enjoys her tea. But while in amidst of the two's painting session, Maria suddenly tosses her paintbrush to her side as it catches both Skarlet and Nicole's attention as Nicole asks: "Is there something wrong, your highness?" Maria then walks towards the window as they hear a knock on the door as they hear: "I'm here with your tea, miss." This causes Nicole to head over and open the door as she sees the maid with a tea set as Nicole says: "Thank you." As Nicole grabs the tea set, the maid asks: "Shall I take the breakfast dishes from the princess." Nicole then looks over to the next room as she remembers that she barely touched her breakfast, Nicole then looks at the maid and says: "That won't be necessary." The maid then bows as she closes the door while Nicole carries the tea set over, while Skarlet looks at Maria and says: "What were you doing in that room, Maria?" Maria then says: "I was simply reading a book. And yet I still don't feel hungry at all." Maria then looks up and sees the royal flag flapping away as she wonders. Maria then says: "Tell me, Nicole, what makes this throne special?" And as Skarlet is confused, Nicole says: "What do you mean, your highness?" Maria then says: "It's just that, everybody is expecting me to be some kind of symbol to them. And now my parents are expecting me to marry someone." Nicole then says: "Well they are looking out for your future. It's not like your past adventures have caused them to believe you're responsible." Maria then says: "Yeah… I know. But with Emily plotting to take over the kingdom, I'm starting to wonder why she would want the castle to begin with."

Back at the Lestorm's house. Albert is observing the progress with Ruby as they are quite behind with their work. But just as the two head down the hall, with Albert hearing his two sons bickering over which suits to wear, when they come across some clothes that are scattered all over the floor that was caused by Alex and Max. This causes Albert to say: "Look at this mess. Why hasn't that lazy boy picked them up already." Albert then looks outside as he sees Charlie as Albert says: "Charlie! Charlie! Get over here and clean this mess up!" This causes Charlie to look up at Albert and says: "C-Coming…" As Charlie slowly makes his way to the entrance, Jen and Zeus follow Charlie as they want to make sure that he doesn't faint. But as they make it to the entrance, they are greeted by Albert and Ruby. And as Charlie slowly enters the house, Zeus and Jen try to follow him, but Albert stops them as he says: "Don't even think about it, runt. I can't let you two go and run around the house." But then suddenly, the sound of someone crashing onto the floor is heard, which causes them to look over at the source of the crash and discover that Charlie had collapsed on the floor. As Ruby stands guard to prevent Zeus and Jen from entering the house, Albert says: "If this is some kind of joke, Charlie, I'm not laughing." But when Charlie doesn't respond, Albert says: "Charlie?" He then makes his way over to Charlie and places his hand on Charlie's forehead and discovers that his forehead is quite hot as he discovers that Charlie is sick, much to the worries of Zeus and Jen.

After placing Charlie back on his bed, he heads downstairs as he angrily says: "I can't believe that boy. We are far behind in preparations and he ends up getting sick from all of it." Despite things going bad for Albert, he knows that pushing Charlie with the chores at his state would make things worse in the future. But with Cesar busy with his other duties by Albert, they are quite underhand. And when Albert reaches the bottom of the attic's stairs, he looks up at the room and says: "As if things aren't already bad enough." But then Alex and Max enter the stairway as Alex says: "Father. Does this suit make me look good?" Max then says: "Mine is better, right?" But Albert ends up saying: "Nevermind about those. Get into your housework clothing, we have a lot of work to do." While this confuses the two brothers, Albert explains: "We need to take care of the cleaning, the cooking and the firewood." But then Alex asks: "Pardon me for asking, but aren't those tasks Charlie's responsibility?" And Albert explains: "Yes. But unfortunately for us, he has gotten sick. Though there's a good chance that he got sick on purpose."

In the attic. As Charlie is laying on the bed, Zeus and Jen are watching him as they worry if they can't save him. It was clear that Albert's constant chores being shoved into Charlie is what got him sick in the first place and now they won't provide him with a doctor or give him some medicine to help Charlie recover. Zeus then decided to head downstairs to find some medicine with Jen joining him. As they head into the halls, the two discover Alex and Max are wiping and cleaning the floors as Alex says: "How come he gets to relax while we have to do the heavy work." And Max then says: "Yeah, my skin is getting wrinkling from all of this scrubbing." And as both Zeus and Jen sneaked into the next room, Albert was having none of it as he says: "Quit your whining. We have a long day ahead of us and I want you to focus!" In a separate room, Jen searches the closet for any signs of medicine, while Zeus searches the cabinets. But then they heard Albert saying: "And I expect this whole house to be tidy for our guest. Hey!" This causes Zeus to turn around and sees Albert as he says: "I thought I told you to stay out!" This causes Albert to chase Zeus out of the room, while Jen remains hidden in the closet. At the hall, Max says: "Finally… It's all done…" But then Zeus proceeds to rush through the hallway as it leaves a trail behind, which Max notices as he says: "Why do you keep making me suffer, you stupid mutt!" Once Zeus was chased out of the house and Jen managed to get out through an open window, the two pounders over how they can help Charlie since Albert and the two brothers are too occupied with the guest coming to their home. At that point, Jen has an idea and tells Zeus that they should head into town and find a doctor for Charlie. Liking the idea, Zeus and Jen proceed to head towards the town to find a doctor.

In the town. Both Jen and Zeus are searching the area for any signs of the doctor. As they search, they're having a hard time trying to find a doctor. And at one point, Zeus thought that he discovered the doctor's scent, only to discover that it was actually some bread from the bakery. Just as the two were getting close to giving up, Jen quickly spotted Blissey in a nurse outfit as she entered the building. Realizing that they found the clinic, Zeus quickly rushes to the doors, only to get pushed away by the nurse as she says: "Shoo! We can't allow pets in the clinic!" As the nurse closes the door, Jen goes up to Zeus as she's worried about Zeus. "Oh. Hey Zeus and Jen." Said a familiar voice as the two quickly looked and saw Maria. Maria then says: "I didn't think that I would see you two here." She then gets on her knees as she then says: "By the way, where's Charlie?" Realizing an idea, Jen proceeds to act like she's sick as Maria notices her and says: "Huh? What's wrong?" Jen then proceeds to sway left and right as she simulates that she's getting weaker. _What is Jen doing? Is she trying to tell me about Charlie?_ Jen then proceeds to fall to her side and starts to moan, which causes Maria to say: "Are you telling me that Charlie is sick?" Jen then gets on her feet as Zeus lets out an acknowledgement bark. This causes Maria to get worried as even though she was supposed to get some time off, she can't leave her friend sick at a time like this.

After managing to convince the doctor to come with her, they take the carriage as she follows Zeus and Jen. Along the way, the doctor says: "Look, I know that you are worried about your friend, but would you mind telling me where we're going?" But Maria doesn't respond as she is focused on following the two. Eventually, Maria notices a three-story mansion as both Zeus and Jen are heading towards it. Is this where Charlie lives? As Maria pulls up to the entrance of the house, Zeus tries to enter through the door, only to get knocked back by Albert as he says: "How many times do I have to repeat myself, you-" But then Albert notices Maria and says: "Oh, so you must be one of Charlie's friends." Maria then says: "Hello, sir. I've heard that Charlie-" But then they heard a huge crash as Albert looked at the source of the noise as they heard: "Ow! Who put those plates here?!" This causes Albert to say: "Hold on, Alex. I'll give you a hand." He then looks at Maria and says: "As you can see, we are quite busy and Charlie decided that he doesn't want to do it. You can find him in the attic." As Zeus tries to enter the house, Albert blocks Zeus's path as he says: "Not through the entrance, we've spent all day trying to get it clean. Use the servant's entrance to the side." As Albert closes the door, Maria is shocked over how he describes Charlie, since she knew that Charlie isn't the lazy type. And she does know that if she was here as a princess, Albert would be singing a different tune about Charlie.

As the four enter the servant's entrance, Zeus and Jen quickly run up to the attic as the doctor follows them. This gives the chance for Maria to look around as she heads upstairs as she hears: "Hey, Alex! I've managed to get our best suits cleaned!" She then heard another voice saying: "Nevermind about that, Max! Just hurry and get to the kitchen!" "Fine." Max's voice says as Maria reaches the second floor. She looks through the hall and notices several doors as she knows that there should be room for Charlie to stay in, since mansions tend to have several bedrooms, especially with a huge place like this. She then looks up to the third floor as she sees the entrance to the attic as she wonders why they would place him up there. "Max. Come here, right now." Albert's voice says as Maria turns and sees Max walking down the hall as he says: "Coming, coming." After Maria sees him leave, she makes her way up the attic. When she enters the attic, she sees how dusty the room has become, but then she notices the doctor with the ill Charlie as both Zeus and Jen watch him with a worried look on their face. Worried about him, Maria says: "Doctor…" The doctor then looks at Maria and says: "He should be okay, he only has a minor illness. He should recover with a good amount of rest." This causes Maria to smile as she says: "Thank you, doctor…" As Zeus and Jen start to get excited about hearing the good news, the doctor says: "You should thank your friends for bringing me to his aid. But I must tend back to the patients." Maria then says: "Of course." Once the doctor leaves the attic and Zeus and Jen left Maria alone with Charlie, Maria looks at Charlie in his state. She then looks at the window and decides to walk towards it so she can close it to prevent the sunlight from hitting his face._ Charlie… _She then walks towards Charlie and grabs his hand as she sits down and says: "I promise that I won't let you go until I know you're better."

As Charlie rests in his beds, he visions himself in the castle as he sees the other guest members enjoying their time at the ball. While Charlie is hoping that he can enjoy the ball, he hears a voice saying: "Would you like to dance with me?" Curious, Charlie looks over and sees none other than Princess Maria as he is quite surprised that she would ask him to dance with her. He starts to blush as he gladly accepts her offer to dance with her. But just as the two are starting to dance, his fantasy disappears as he slowly opens his eyes. And as he does so, he sees Maria smiling as she looks at him. This causes Charlie to say: "Maria…" He then notices that she's holding on to his hand as he lets her hand go as Maria asks: "Are you feeling better, Charlie?" Charlie then nodded as he said: "Yeah. I even had a pleasant dream." This causes Maria to get curious as she says: "Oh? And what dream did you have?" This causes Charlie to blush as he says: "H-Hold on. I-I can't go into details." This causes Maria to giggle as Charlie then says: "A-Anyway… Why are you here?" Maria then says: "I heard from your friends that you've gotten sick, so I brought over a doctor to come help you. And all you need right now is some rest."

Meanwhile, in the kitchen. The three are currently searching around the kitchen for a pot so they can make some stew. Though given how the three have never used a kitchen, it makes things harder for them. As Alex asks: "Do we even have a pot to begin with, father?" Albert says: "Of course we do, keep looking. And as Max says: "But if we were to cook the dinner, who's going to set the table?" And Albert says: "We'll worry about that later. Right now, we need to cook." Alex then says: "Father, do we even have the tools for the job?" And Albert says: "Of course we do. Though I don't know where Charlie hid them. At this rate, we are so far behind that we may have no choice but to… Delay the invitation…" This shocks both Alex and Max as Alex says: "Father, no…" Max then says: "Surely you don't mean it." But then Albert proceeds to say: "Unless…" He then remembers meeting Maria from earlier as she is meeting with Charlie right now, which gives him an idea as he says: "Yes, of course. I know how we can change the tide to our favour."

With orders from Albert, Alex and Max had managed to bring Maria over to the living room and had her put on a maid outfit, much to her confusion. Albert then enters the room with a duster, broom and bucket in his hand as he explains: "I can imagine that you are confused. But as you can see, we are in desperate need of some help. And since you and Charlie are friends, we were hoping that you can finish off the rest of his chores." He then passes the cleaning supplies to Maria as he then explains: "We have a very important guest coming over and we want to make this place perfect. So I need you to get this place spotless for when our guest arrives." He then leaves the room as the very confused Maria looks at the stuff she has in his hand as she doesn't really have that much cleaning experience. But then she recalls how her maid would clean the castle as she puts the bucket down and flicks her duster a couple of times. She then proceeds to sweep the floor and use the duster on the fireplace as she is relatively having an easier time than she thought.

But then she hears a voice saying: "It's a good thing you had that idea, father. Now we can focus on much more important things." As Maria wonders what they are talking about, she hears someone saying: "Nice job. You've managed to make it dustless." She then turns around and sees Max in the living room as he observes the fireplace she had dusted. Feeling happy about her decent attempt, Maria bows as she says: "Just doing my job for a friend." But then Max says: "Speaking of which, do you have any plans on marrying Charlie?" This causes her face to turn red as she nervously says: "H-Huh?! U-Um... " But Max then says: "Don't worry about it. If you do marry Charlie, I'll make sure that both of you can work at the castle." As Maria starts to get confused, Max then says: "Though. For that to happen, I have to make sure that I marry the princess." This causes Maria to say: "Are you engaged with the princess?" But Max simply goes up to her and hugs her with his elbow and says: "Not yet. But if you keep up the good work, there's a chance that it will happen. And besides, I can be a great prince, right?" This causes Maria to say: "O-Of course..." Max then lets Maria go as he then says: "Good. Now I must head off, but keep up with the good work." Max then starts to laugh as he leaves the room as Maria knows one thing for sure, the chance of her marrying Max and then pretending to be her maid is a flat out zero.

At the attic, Charlie is still resting in his bed as he starts to worry about Maria. But then he hears Albert's voice saying: "Now that you are done with the room, I need you here for some firewood." Curious about what he's talking about, Charlie gets out of his bed as he slowly makes his way to the window. Upon looking through the window, he saw Albert and Maria in a maid's outfit as Albert then says: "So I want you to chop down some wood for us. You'll use them for cooking." As Albert passes Maria the hatchet, Charlie says: "Oh boy… It looks like father is putting Maria in some chores… And from the looks of it… He's making her chop some wood…" Charlie then hears Albert saying: "Now I must get back to my duties, so hurry up and chop some wood. Our guest is arriving soon." As Albert leaves Maria to her task, Maria looks at the hatchet she has as she has no idea what to do.

Maria then notices the small woodpile and a tree stump nearby as she thinks that she should chop some wood. She then placed one of the small wood on the stump and got her hatchet ready. But when she raises her hatchet, she ends up falling backward and she lands on her behind as the hatchet falls behind her. As she gets up and rubs her sore behind, she grabs the hatchet and faces the stump with a small wood on it as she tries again. She then tries to swing the hatchet down, but she ends up stumbling and misses the wood. She tries to do it again as she keeps missing the wood. But once she managed to get her stance, she swung the hatchet again. This causes the hatchet to cut through most of the wood as it gets stuck. She then lifts the hatchet as she sees the wood and starts to smile as she figures out what she was supposed to do. She then swings the hatchet down to break the wood apart as it splits in two. She then grabs another wood, before proceeding to split the wood in two. She does it again a couple more times as she says: "So it's all about the position of my legs. Now I understand." _Though… Now that I think about it… Does Charlie have to do all of this alone? Does he always have to do these chores, while the three do nothing to help him?_ "Hey, you!" Alex says as it breaks Maria's thought process, which causes her to look at Alex and says: "Stop standing around, we need you at the kitchen. Now."

In the kitchen. Maria is forced to put on an apron as she says: "Um… I should let you know that I don't really know how to cook…" But Alex cuts him off as he says: "It's not that hard. Charlie does it all the time. We want you to go and make some bread and stew for us and our guest." "Alex! Get over here, our important guest is about to arrive!" Albert says as Alex yells out: "Coming!" Alex then looks at Maria and says: "Anyway. It's important that you make us a good meal for our guests. Understand." Alex then gets close to Maria and says: "And who knows… If you manage to do a good job and I end up marrying the princess, I can make you our chef. Consider it a motivation for you to do your best." And while Maria says: "Right… Motivation…" They then heard Albert's voice saying: "Alex!" This causes Alex to turn around and says: "Coming!" And as he leaves the kitchen, Maria looks around the kitchen as she has no idea on what to do. Little does she realize is that Zeus and Jen are watching her from the outside as both agree that she is going to need Charlie's help.

At the front entrance. Albert and his two sons were waiting when they spotted a carriage coming to them. Once the carriage stops in front of their house, Duchess Emily steps out of the carriage as she meets the three. While she knows that they will try and manipulate her into trying to get the two brothers to marry the princess, she'll at least let them entertain her for the day. And if she believes that they managed to entertain her, then she'll use them for her future schemes. Albert then bows his head as he says: "Welcome, Duchess Emily. It would be a great honour to welcome you to our house." And as the two brothers nodded, Alex said: "We do hope that we can serve you, Duchess." This causes Emily to smile as she likes their little introduction. Meanwhile, in the attic. Charlie is resting in his bed when he hears Zeus and Jen entering the room. When Charlie looks over, he sees that Zeus is holding on to a wooden spoon from the kitchen as Zeus grabs it from the kitchen without Maria knowing it as Charlie says: "What is it? Are they going to make her cook dinner?" Zeus and Jen nodded as Charlie realized that she could need his help. So he reaches into the drawer and grabs the book from inside the shelf and passes it to Jen as he says: "Here… Bring this to her… It should help her with the knowledge on how to cook..." Jen nodded as she grabs the book with her mouth from Charlie as the two make their way to the kitchen.

In the lobby. As Alex and Max are preparing some tea for Duchess Emily, Albert is showing some paintings that he has in the lobby to Duchess Emily. Emily then notices a particular painting as she says: "Oh my. I've never seen a painting like that before. Do you know who made this?" Albert then notices the painting that Emily saw as he says: "Oh, that painting? That one was actually bought by my wife during one of her important exhibitions. It was from the artist that was called Misery." Emily then says: "Misery… Yes. I've heard tales about this Misery. It makes me wonder if the artist is still alive from all of this. Though I must ask, does your wife own a collection of art like this?" Albert then explains: "Of course, Duchess. She bought them and from the times she voyages out of the region. You will be quite amazed by the stuff that she can get her hands on." Emily then asks: "And do you have any idea on where she could be?" And Albert then explains: "No. I do not know her current whereabouts. It would be a miracle if I received a letter from her since her exhibitions are important to her."

In the kitchen. Maria still has no idea how to work in the kitchen, when she hears Zeus's bark. She then turns around as she sees both Jen and Zeus, but then she notices the book in Jen's mouth as she says: "Huh? What do you have here?" She then grabs the book from Jen and opens it. Inside the book are actually recipes that Charlie wrote down when he was in the kitchen, as well as details about the stuff he cooked. Realizing that this could help her, Maria says: "Put some flour, add a scoop of butter, knead and shape. These instructions are very helpful. Thanks, guys." And as Zeus lets out an acknowledge bark, Maria proceeds to grab a bag of flour and pour it onto a counter. Once she's got a good pile, she adds a scoop of butter onto the flour pile as she looks into the book for further instructions. Once she's done, she proceeds to mix the two together as it forms a dough. She then proceeds to knead the dough into some bread doughs and put them on a bread peel pan. With the bread dough set, she proceeded to carry the peel pan to the stone oven and slid the bread dough in. With the bread dough baking in the oven, Maria proceeds to say: "Okay. With the bread taken care of, that leaves the stew…"

As Albert, Alex, Max and Duchess Emily enjoy their tea in the living room, Maria is busy looking through the book as she says: "Okay… Let's see what we got for stew…" She then finds the page for how to make stew… Only to get stump by the directions, since she doesn't know the cooking terminologies that the page describes. She then closes the book as she says: "Man… It's quite confusing… I better get to it…" Maria then goes over to the section and starts to wash the vegetables from the basket as Zeus remembers the first time Charlie tries to cook for the family, except that Maria doesn't have Taillows to help her out. Jen then looks at Zeus as he explains to her about the situation and that they should help her. Jen agrees as she grabs the knife from the counter as Zeus grabs the cutter. But before they could put it on the counter for Maria, she grabs the vegetables and carries them over to the boiling pot as she says: "Okay. In you go." As Maria sees the vegetables floating in the waters, with Jen and Zeus getting worried, Maria then grabs a Tomato as she says: "Maybe I should give it some colour." She then notices the knife that Jen has as she says: "Oh, thanks, Jen." Before Jen could move, Maria grabs the knife from her as she goes over to the pot and starts cutting slices of tomato into the pot. The slices of the tomato have caused the water to turn red as Maria says: "I believe that I did it right." As Jen and Zeus know that things are not going well, they hop on the counter to see if they can find anything to salvage it. But that causes Maria to turn around and notices two as she says: "Huh?" But then she notices the salt and pepper shakers and grabs then as she says: "Oh! Thanks for reminding me, guys." She then looks back at the "stew" and starts shaking the salt and pepper a couple of times as she says: "I can't forget about the seasoning." But after doing it, she looks at it before proceeding to shake it a couple of more times as she says: "Um… Maybe a couple more…" But then she continues to shake again as she then says: "Maybe a few more." As Zeus and Jen fear that it would be over season, the shakers that Maria has had caused the lids to pop open and pour both batches of salt and pepper into the "stew". This causes Maria to get surprised, before proceeding to say: "Well… At least it won't be bland…"

"Hey. It's the supper ready?" Alex says from the dining room as Max joins him as he then says: "Yeah. Our guest is starting to get hungry." Maria then looks over and says: "I believe so." In the dining room. Emily is sitting at the table as she says: "Oh. You even made dinner for me?" Albert then says: "Of course, Duchess Emily. We wanted you to enjoy your time at our place." He then looks at the kitchen as he then says: "Alex. Max. We're ready when you are." This causes Alex and Max to enter the dining room as they both say: "Coming father." And as Alex brings in a bread basket and Max carries two dome covers with the "stew" in it, Maria enters the room with the other two dome covers. But Maria took one quick look at Emily to immediately stop and turn around so she doesn't see her. _Emily?! They're having Emily over as a guest?! Why didn't they tell me?!_ She knew right then and there that if Emily spots her, not only is she going to have a hard time explaining herself to her parents, but it could put their family in danger. And as Alex sets the breadbasket on the table and Max places the dome cover in front of Emily, with Max saying: "Here you are, Madam." And Emily replying: "Thank you, young sir." Maria side steps to the other corner of the room as she places the dome covers in front of Albert and Alex's seat, before proceeding to sidestep back into the kitchen while keeping her face hidden from Emily.

With everything set, Emily takes in the smell of her meal as she says: "I must say that it does smell delicious. And it is also quite flattering that you would go this far and so much trouble, just for me. I'm sure that it will be exquisite." As Albert laughs, Alex says: "You are too kind, Duchess Emily." As Emily laughs, she lifts her dome cover to enjoy her meal… Only for her to look surprised as she sees the "stew". Seeing her expression changed, Albert asks: "Is there something wrong, Duchess Emily?" Emily then looks at Albert as she says: "No, no. I'm just surprised, that's all. This stew is quite unusual, but I'll give it a shot." Emily then proceeds to take a spoon full of the "stew" and eats it. And as the three watch her expression, Alex asks: "So, Duchess. What do you think of our stew?" Emily's expression quickly changed from curious to disgusted as she covers her mouth to prevent it from gagging as she says: "What… Is this…" This causes the three to get confused as they lifted their dome covers… Only to see that the "stew" is a murky mess with chunks of vegetables still in it and the colour disorienting. This causes Alex to say: "What the…?!" This causes Max to quickly say: "D-Don't worry, Duchess. I'm sure that our fresh bread would take the-" But when he lifts the bread cover, he discovers a shocking scene.

In the kitchen. It seems that when Maria was cooking the stew, she had completely forgotten about the bread in the oven. This causes the bread to completely shrank and blackened to the point of inedibility. And as Maria dumps the last bits of the burnt bread onto the plate, Zeus and Jen look at it as Maria says: "Okay, so maybe I left it in there a little longer than needed. But it's still edible, right?" Back in the dining room. An angry Emily says: "If this is some kind of joke, I'm not laughing." Albert quickly says: "No, Duchess. It's not what you think." And as Alex says: "How did this happen?" Max says: "Well I know that we didn't cook it. So it has to-: But then Max quickly covers his mouth as Albert says: "Not another word, Max!" But then Emily gets up from her seat as Albert says: "W-Wait, Duchess Emilly…" But Emily simply says: "I have never been so insulted in all of my life. You, sir, are a terrible host." But Albert tries to say: "Wait. There's been a terrible misunderstanding." Emily leaves the room as she angrily says: "Goodbye!" And as Albert says: "No, wait!" Emily has already left their home. And from the kitchen, Maria, Zeus and Jen have been listening to the whole thing. And even though it wasn't Maria's intention, she's at least glad that Emily won't be using them for her schemes anymore. But once Emily's carriage has left, Albert simply yelled out: "Why did this have to happen today! Why did Charlie get sick on this particular day!"

In the castle. Maria is telling her story to both Skarlet and Nicole as she starts to laugh as she says: "You should've seen her face when she tried that stew." And as Skarlet asks: "And why was Emily over to his place to begin with?" Maria says: "I have no idea, but I am glad that it was Emily that tried my bad cooking and not someone else." But as Skarlet asks: "Oh come on. It can't be that bad." Nicole looks at Skarlet and says: "Then you wouldn't mind letting her cook your meals then?" This causes Skarlet to say: "H-Hey, I'm not going that far." But then Maria says: "Believe me. I have no idea what to do in the kitchen since I have never stepped foot in a kitchen." Nicole then looks at Maria and says: "I'm pretty sure that it can't be a good thing to say to the citizens." Maria then says: "Yeah. But there is something that I did learn." As both Skarlet and Nicole are confused, Maria proceeds to mimick her hatchet chopping chore as she says: "I learned how to chop wood." This causes Nicole to giggle as Skarlet says: "So you're going to be our first carpenter princess?" But Maria then says: "No. That's not it." As Nicole and Skarlet wonder what she means, Maria then says: "What I learned is that I've been too reliant on my staff to pick up the slacks for me while I was having fun. And if the citizens were to see me as a symbol, then I need to show them the good side of me." Maria then walks over to the next room as both Skarlet and Nicole watch her. Maria then kneels near her cold breakfast as she says: "And in order to do that, I must take on some of the duties for the servants and take on the duties that are bestowed on me." As Maria removes the cloth and starts eating her breakfast, Nicole watches as she's happy that she is becoming more responsible in her life as Skarlet says: "Yeah, though I'm not sure eating a cold breakfast is a good idea…"

At the Lestorm's house. Charlie is watching the stars as he is slightly getting better from his illness. And although he has an earful from Albert as he has to suffer from Maria's bad cooking, he is at least grateful to Maria for helping him out when he was ill. Though he does know that Charlie will have to be the one that does the cooking for now on and that Jen and Zeus will have to pull Maria away from the kitchen if he gets sick again. Though little does he know is that on the ground, Cinder is watching Charlie as she says: "I'm glad that you are feeling better, Charlie. Though it is important that you still get your rest, cause there is still a future for you." Cinder then proceeds to cast her spell as it fabricates a blanket for Charlie as it rests on him. Charlie continues to watch the night skies as he wonders how the future holds for someone like him.


	17. A Strong Heart in a Small Body

**A Strong Heart in a Small Body**

At the Lestorm's house. Max is examining the jewelry that he bought throughout the years, as well as from the gifts that his father bought for him. But as he examines them, he gets stumped as he says: "You know… These pieces of jewelry are quite plain and boring when I compare them to my suits." Even though Max looked at all of his jewelry and tried to imagine them when compared to the suits he has, he still has come up with nothing. But then Max has an idea as he says: "I've got it!" Max then proceeds to leave his room and heads over to Albert's room as he knocks on the door and says: "Are you in here, father? I was wondering if I can have that ruby pin for my suits? Father?" But when he opens the door, he discovers that Albert is not in his room. Even though he has his own room, he is amazed over Albert's room since it has the best qualities of the bedroom, though he knows that Albert won't trade rooms since he's the head of the house. But then Max looks over and notices a shelf in Albert's room as he walks over to it and opens it. And to his surprise and amazement, he discovers Albert's prize possession. And that's a brooch gemstone necklace with brown lacings. This causes Max to say: "Wow… Father's prize possession." He then picks up the gemstone as he says: "I hope father doesn't mind me borrowing this for a while."

In the study room. Alex is studying a book when he hears the sounds of humming from Max. But when Alex took a quick look, he quickly spotted the brooch gemstone necklace around Max's neck. This causes Alex to close his book and gets up as he says: "What are you doing with father's prize possession?!" Max then says: "Oh, I don't know what you're talking about." This causes Alex to say: "Oh sure. And I must have mistaken that for his many other prize possessions that I wasn't aware of. You obviously stole that from him!" But Max then proceeds to say: "No I didn't. I only borrowed it. Besides, it actually shines more with me. I believe I'll ask father to let me borrow this for the next princess's royal ball." But Alex then says: "Forget it. I've already asked him and he says no. Besides, you know that I always get first pick. You have to take whatever I don't choose." But this only caused Max to say: "Not this time, Alex. This time, you get the leftovers." But this causes Alex to get angry as he says: "Yeah… Well, give that to me, now!" This causes Alex to lunge at Max, only for Max to dodge him as Alex hits the wall. This causes Alex to stumble backwards as some of the books from the bookshelf hit the floor, but it also causes Max to say: "Nice job, slowpoke. At this rate, you'll probably be late for our wedding with the princess." But this causes Alex to get angry as Max quickly leaves the room as Alex gives chase.

Outside the house. Charlie is busy cleaning the backyard as a part of his many chores. And as he is cleaning the backyard, both Zeus and Jen are having fun together as they chase each other. But as Charlie is still cleaning, he hears some footsteps heading towards him from behind. This causes Charlie to turn around and sees that Max is running away from a rather angry Alex. Before Charlie could have time to react or say something, Max ends up going behind Charlie and using him as a shield as Alex says: "You coward! Come and face me!" As Charlie says: "Hold on! What's going-" But then Charlie notices the brooch gemstone necklace around Max's neck and says: "Wow. It's that new jewelry, Max?" And Max replied: "Yup. Doesn't this look great on me, Charlie." Before Charlie could respond, Alex proceeds to say: "You seem to leave out one important detail, Max. And that you stole it from our father." This causes Max to say: "Did not." Max then proceeds to push Charlie towards Alex as he makes a break for it. Though this causes Alex to shove Charlie out of the way as Charlie lands on the ground while Alex says: "Get back here!" As Alex chases Max again, Charlie gets up from the ground as he is quite lost from the ordeal that's happening. And as Zeus and Jen see the two brothers at it, Charlie knows he needs to stop the fighting as he says: "Wait a minute, you two! Let's talk this out!" Charlie then proceeds to go after the two brothers as he figures out a way to stop them from fighting.

Meanwhile. Albert has finished with his trip to the bathroom after he heard the crashing noise coming from the study room. He knew that the two brothers would bicker with each other. Though he also knew that once they start fighting, he'll need to step in and break things up. But as he makes his way through the hall, he notices that the door to his room is opened, despite him knowing that he closed it before he heads into the bathroom. Deciding to do some investigating, he enters the room to look around for anything unusual. While he sees nothing at first, he then quickly sees one of his shelves open as he hurries over to the open shelf and quickly discovers something shocking. His most prized possession, the one that brought him good luck in both marriages, has vanished from his shelf. This causes Albert to get angry as he says: "Who would dare to steal something so valuable to me…" Then Albert proceeds to yell out: "Alex! Max! Charlie!"

Back outside. Max continues to run away from Alex as Max says: "You know you can't have this, Alex." But as Max is feeling confident, he ends up getting tripped on a small stick, which causes Max to stumble. Though this causes Alex to catch up and proceed to tackle Max to the ground. Unbeknownst to them though is that when Alex tackled Max, the gemstone necklace that Max had, had ended up flying out from around his neck and fell further onto the ground. As both Max and Alex start to grab each other on the ground, Charlie manages to catch up to them and says: "Hold on you two! Maybe we can talk this out!" "Hold it right there, you three!" Albert's angry voice says as the three froze in their place. They then look and see Albert walking up to the three as both Alex and Max got up from the ground. Once Albert reaches the group, he proceeds to say: "Someone has stolen my most prized possession that was handed down to me from generations. And I don't want to admit this, but one of you three has stolen it from me." Realizing the horror, Max tries to grab the necklace from his neck, only to realize that the necklace is gone. Alex then leans over and whispers: "Max. Hurry up and give it back to father." But this causes Max to say: "I can't. I don't have it on me." As Max starts to worry, Charlie looks at Max as he's getting worried as well. Even though Charlie is glad that he isn't the one getting yelled at by his father, he can't help but worry for Max and what his father would do to him.

This causes Albert to get angry as he says: "So. Who is it? Who stole my necklace?" Max then starts to stumble as he says: "U-Um… You see… I…" But to Max's surprise, Charlie steps forward and says: "I took it. I'm the one that took your prized possession, father." While this confuses Max and surprised Alex, Albert starts to smile as he says: "So… Your true colours have shown. You should know that stealing from me is a serious crime, right?" This causes Charlie to say: "Yes. But I can give it back to you." This causes Albert to say: "You can give it back to me? Such bold words, coming from a thief like you. So hear this. If you do not give me back the necklace by sunset tonight, you will be forbidden from stepping foot into our home again. Got it?" And as Charlie says: "Yes, sir." Alex starts to smile that Charlie took the blame while Max is still confused. Nearby, Zeus and Jen are surprised that Charlie is willing to take the blame for Max's crime.

Charlie then proceeds to begin his search in the fields as both Zeus and Jen help Charlie with their search. As Zeus searches around, he discovers Max's scent as he examines it. But then he quickly discovers the necklace that is on a leaf. This causes Zeus to let out a bark to get their attention. And when Charlie and Jen look over, they spot the necklace as Charlie says: "Oh, there it is. Nice job, Zeus." As both Charlie and Jen rush over to where Zeus is, what Charlie doesn't realize is that when he catches up to Zeus and the necklace, his foot got caught up in a small vine on the ground. This causes Charlie to trip over and bump into the necklace, before proceeding to fall onto a steep hill that's ahead of them. As both Zeus and Jen quickly see the horror, the necklace bounces down the hill as Charlie slides down the hill while trying to find something to stop him from sliding. But then he saw a cliff from down the hill as the necklace fell into the cliff as Charlie reached the bottom of the hill. But he managed to grab hold of the edge of the hill as he tried to hang on.

Zeus and Jen managed to catch up to Charlie and sees that he's in danger as Charlie tries to find footing on the cliff. To save Charlie, Zeus and Jen quickly find a vine and bring it down so that Charlie can grab it. As Charlie sees the vine, he grabs on to it as both Zeus and Jen drag it back up again. But just as he almost reached the top of the cliff as he says: "Thanks, guys." The vine breaks, which causes Charlie to fall from the edge of the cliff, much to the horrors of Zeus and Jen. Nearby, Cinder is busy with her painting with a Swellow that Charlie met, as well as a Taillow that she has. But then they heard the sound of Charlie's scream as Cinder turned around and saw Charlie falling to his doom. And although this causes the Taillows to fly after him, Cinder ends up saying: "I will help you, my friends. For this will surely help Charlie out in his need." She then casts a spell at Charlie, which causes him to shrink down to a small body, allowing the Taillow to catch him from falling to his doom. Back over at Cinder. Cinder has fallen into a small stream and has gotten herself wet as the Swellow looks at Cinder and says: "While I'm glad my son has saved our friend, why did you make him small?" Cinder then says: "It was a spur of a moment. But I must ask that you keep him safe until the spell is broken with time." Swellow then thinks to herself, before proceeding to say: "As you wish."

Charlie slowly wakes up to the sounds of unusually loud chirping noises. But upon waking up, he quickly sees that the grasses are rather unusually tall and the gravel is quite large. But what really surprises him is that when he sees a Taillow, he quickly saw that it was twice his size. And as Charlie says: "How…" The sounds of earthmoving have Charlie turn his focus over as he sees a large Zeus and Jen running up to him, which surprises and confuses him more. Once the two catch up to Charlie and the Taillow, Charlie says: "How did you guys get to be so big?!" "Actually, it is you that has gotten shorter, Charlie." The Swellow says as she lands near Charlie and Charlie seeing that the Swellow is quite tall from his stance. Then the Swellow says: "Though how you got that way is not important right now. What's important is that we will get you back home safely." But Charlie knowing the situation at hand, ends up saying: "I wish that I could. But I can't go back until I find my father's necklace."

Before the Swellow could ask what Charlie is talking about, Charlie notices something shining in the distance and heads towards it. Even though he could feel the ground move as he believes that Zeus and Jen are following him, his focus is on the thing that was shining at the distance. And when he gets closer, he sees his father's necklace has landed on some rock as it remains undamaged, even though it's bigger than him. Charlie then proceeds to try and lift the necklace stone from the stone. And despite having a bit of a struggle at first, he managed to carry it on his arms, just as Zeus and Jen caught up to him. As Charlie is glad that he can find it, how he'll bring it back home and get back to his original size is something that he needs to figure out. Just then, the Swellow and Taillow managed to catch up to them as they landed on the ground near them.

Unbeknownst to the others, the Taillow has accidentally landed on some flowers which caused it to release some spores in the air. The cloud of spores then goes through Jen and Zeus as it reaches Charlie. This causes both Jen and Zeus to sneeze from the spores in the air as Charlie tries to not sneeze. However, with an over amount of spores in the air, Charlie can't help as he ends up sneezing, which causes the necklace that he's holding on to, to fall out of his hand as Charlie continues to sneeze. But when Charlie managed to get a good look, he saw the necklace bouncing away from them. This causes Charlie to say: "No! The necklace!" Charlie then runs after the bouncing necklace as Zeus and Jen follow suit, while the Swellow and the Taillow are confused, but still decide to follow them to try and keep Charlie safe. Zeus then eventually manages to get past them as he tries to grab the necklace. But the Necklace kept bouncing away until it reached a log as the laces got caught up in one of the stumps. Zeus then sees the log and tries to stop in his tracks, only for him to trip on a rock as he flies forward and bumps into the log, which causes it to go into the water. As Charlie and Jen catch up, Charlie sees the log having the necklace as it floats away. As Zeus joins the two, Charlie says: "Come on, we've got to catch that log."

The three then hurries to try and stop the log so that they can get the necklace. But despite them managing to get ahead of the log, they weren't successful in either grabbing the log or the necklace. But just as they tried to get to the log, they noticed the waterfall from the distance. Just then, the Swellow and the Taillow manage to catch up to them as the Swellow asks: "Hold on, Charlie. Why are you going out of your way for some jewelry?" But Charlie then proceeds to say: "That jewelry means so much to my father and my family. I can't let anything happen to it, or I won't be able to go home again." Realizing what Charlie is going through, the Taillow proceeds to fly by Charlie as Charlie sees that the Taillow wants to ride on it so that they can reach the necklace. This causes Charlie to jump on the Taillow's back as they fly over to where the log is. And as the two flys over, they spot the log stopping at a stone, which causes Charlie to say: "There it is. I have to grab it now." Charlie then gets off the Taillow's back as he lands on the stone. But when Charlie sees the log starting to move, he quickly places his hands on the log to stop it from moving.

Unfortunately. A Fearow lands on the log and proceeds to pick up the necklace from the log as Charlie says: "Hey!" But the Fearow starts to fly off as it pushes Charlie away from the log as the Fearow flies off. The Taillow spotted the Fearow stealing the necklace and started to give chase. The Swellow then sees the Taillow chasing the Fearow as the Swellow follows the two while saying: "Hold on. You'll get hurt." While that's going on. Charlie gets on Zeus as both Zeus and Jen give chase to the Fearow from the ground as Charlie tries to keep an eye on the Fearow. But the weather starts to rain as it blocks their vision. But then the skies start to fog up as the Taillow loses track of the Fearow as the Taillow frantically searches for the Fearow. But the Swellow catch up to the Taillow and says that they can't find the Fearow in this weather and should head back to Charlie and his friends.

After the Taillow and the Swellow got back to Charlie and his friends and let them know of the situation, they sat in the rain as the Swellow said: "We are sorry, Charlie. Had we known about your situation, we would have helped you out earlier…" But Charlie then says: "It's not your fault. I know that you were looking out for your Taillow and me." But with the fear that they would never find that Fearow and the necklace again Charlie starts to get sad as he says: "Without the necklace. I can't go home ever again…" He then gets a terrible image of his father and his brothers mocking him as a terrible image of his father says: "I told you that you have until sunset to give me back my prize possession. And since you dare to show up here without you, you will never step foot in this house again!" Then Charlie imagines his two brothers laughing and mocking him as the front doors to his house closes on him. As the image disappears, Charlie then says: "If anything were to happen to me being locked out of my home, I won't be able to take care of you guys." But the Swellow proceeds to say: "Don't say that. I know that things are quite down on your end, but you mustn't lose your sense of hope at a time like this. And I know that your friends won't abandon you." Zeus and Jen let out an acknowledge bark to let Charlie know that they won't leave him, which causes Charlie to smile as he says: "Thanks, guys."

Just then, the weather starts to clear up as they look up and are surprised to see a clear sky. This causes the Swellow to say: "It looks like there's still a chance for you to get that necklace back, Charlie." Charlie then nodded as he said: "Right. Just as long as there's a sun out there, we will still have time." The Swellow then says: "Then hop on to my back and we will find the Fearow together." Charlie nodded as he said: "Got it." Charlie then gets onto the Swellow's back as the Swellow takes to the skies as Taillow follows the two. As they take to the skies, Jen and Zeus start to follow them from the ground. But then they heard some clopping nearby as it catches both Zeus and Jen's attention. They then see a Gardevoir and a Greninja riding past them on their Rapidashes as the two go towards the pathway so they can get a closer look at the two. Zeus then sees that the Gardevoir is actually Maria as Zeus says that they could get Maria's help in finding the necklace. Jen agrees as the two hurry over to catch up to Maria and the Greninja.

Up in the sky. The three are looking for any signs of the Fearow as Swellow says: "I wonder why that Fearow would go and steal that necklace for? I doubt it would have any use for them?" And Charlie says: "Maybe the Fearow was dazzled by the way that it shines?" The Swellow then says: "I guess. But stealing is still wrong. And we'll teach that nasty Fearow a few lessons in manners when we find them." And Charlie then says: "And that's if we find them." As they continue their search, Charlie can't help but be amazed by the view from above. Even though they are supposed to be looking for the necklace, he is amazed by the fact that he gets to fly high in the skies with the Swellow and the Taillow. This causes Charlie to say: "You know, Swellow. I'm amazed that I would get to see these amazing sights with you and Taillow. You two are so lucky to be able to fly whenever you want." The Swellow then giggles as she says: "Thanks. Though I do tell my daughters and sons that you should never take your wings for granted. While we're not the fastest, we are capable of flying just as well as that Fearow."

Just as Charlie is enjoying the moment, they then notice a flock of Fearows as Charlie says: "Look, over there." The Swellow notices then and says: "It looks like our thief is hiding among the other flocks of Fearow. We need to find which one." As they try to figure out which one of the Fearows has the necklace, the Taillow recognizes the Fearow and starts chirping to let the Swellow know where to find the Fearow. This causes the Swellow to say: "It looks like we found our culprit." But before Charlie could say something or do something, the Fearow that the Taillow spotted had broken from the flock, which caught the three's attention. As they see the Fearow flying towards the tree, the three follow the Fearow as it circles around the tree before entering the tree. As the three gets close, the Swellow says: "So this must be the Fearow's nest." As Charlie looks over, he sees a Fearow tending to a nest full of baby Spearows, which causes Charlie to say: "Wow. They're so adorable." As Charlie sees the Spearows chirping in the nest, Charlie then says: "Maybe the necklace is in their nest…"

However. Their presence has caught the Fearow's attention as it spots them. Thinking that they're trying to invade their space, the Fearow goes on an attack as it charges towards the Swellow. And although the Swellow and the Taillow managed to dodge out of the Fearow's way, Charlie ends up getting tossed by the sudden shift from the Swellow as he falls from the sky. Though thankfully, he is able to land on a branch as it breaks his fall. As Charlie gets up, he sees the Fearow attacking the Swellow and the Taillow. Even though he wants to help the two out, he knows that he can't in the state that he's in. He then turns around and looks up at the Fearow's nest and sees the baby Spearows as Charlie says: "I hope that the necklace is within the nest." Charlie then proceeds to head towards the tree and starts to climb it. Even though he can climb up the tree, it will take some time before he could reach up to the nest as he hopes that the Swellow and the Taillow would keep the Fearow distracted.

Meanwhile. Maria and Skarlet are examining the route to the town and see if there should be any improvement on it. Ever since Maria decided to be more responsible in her life, she has been doing some tasks around the castle to help improve the town and the kingdom both in her regular princess outfit and her disguised outfit. And once they do their survey on the town, Maria will pass her notes to Skarlet so that she can pass it off to the workers so they could do work on the routes. But they also know that they should keep an eye out for Emily and her lackeys from her schemes since they have a feeling that Emily is hiding her schemes from the castle since her original plan of getting her son to marry Maria is slipping through her hands.

But just as they were doing their survey on the routes, they suddenly heard barking from a distance. This causes the two to turn around and sees Zeus and Jen running up to them. Once they get close, Maria says: "Zeus, Jen. What are you two doing?" But Zeus continues on with his bark as both Maria and Skarlet are confused. But Maria then believes that Charlie could be in danger as Maria says: "Are you saying that Charlie needs my help?" Zeus then lets out an acknowledge bark as Maria closes her notebook as she realizes that Charlie needs her help. She then looks at Skarlet and passes her notes to Skarlet as Maria says: "Sorry, Skarlet. But I need to go help him. I'll catch up with you later." Before Skarlet could say anything, Maria gets on her Rapidash and proceeds to follow Zeus and Jen to where Charlie could be.

Back at the tree. Charlie continues to climb the tree as he tries to reach the branch where the nest is. And despite having to deal with a wind trying to blow him away, he can keep his grip on the tree. Eventually, Charlie is able to reach the branch that has the nest full of Spearows. He carefully makes his way to the nest and looks inside as he sees the baby Spearows chirping away as Charlie says: "I'm sorry for barging in on your home. But I have to check and see if you have the necklace." Charlie then proceeds to enter the nest as he slides down the nest. Once Charlie is underneath the Spearows, he starts to crawl as he looks for the necklace. He then spots the necklace in the nest as he crawls towards it and grabs it as he says: "Finally. I've got the necklace. Now I've got to get it back to father before I run out of time."

While that's going on. The Fearow continues to chase the Swellow and the Taillow in the sky as the Fearow doesn't want them invading their spot. But when the Fearow takes a look at the nest, the Fearow sees Charlie leaving the nest with the necklace. Believing that Charlie is stealing from the nest, the Fearow focuses its attention from Swellow and Taillow to Charlie as it dives bombs towards it. As Charlie gets his footing on the branch as he pulls the necklace out of the nest, he looks at the skies and sees the Fearow diving at him. Realizing that he has no way of dodging the dive bomb, Charlie covers his eyes out of fear as he expects to get pierced. But then suddenly, the spell that was cast on Charlie is broken as Charlie grows back to his original size. Seeing Charlie grow has caused the Fearow to stop in its tracks as Charlie opens his eyes and sees that not only did he didn't get pierced but also that he's back to his original size as he says: "Huh? How did I get back to my regular size?"

Back on the ground. Maria continues to follow Zeus and Jen as Maria wonders what sort of situation Charlie is in that needs her help. But then Maria notices a figure coming from near the top of the tree as she looks at it, only to see that the figure is Charlie as he's standing on a branch and is near a Swellow, Taillow and a Fearow. Maria is really confused by the situation as she stops near the tree Charlie is on as she says: "Charlie! What are you doing on top of that tree?!" Charlie then looks down and sees Maria as Charlie says: "Maria?! Hey! It's a long story-" But before he could finish, the branch that Charlie is standing on starts to break, which causes Charlie and the nest of Spearows to fall from the branch. As the two falls to the ground, the group gets worried as Maria says: "Charlie!" She then quickly gets off her Rapidash and hurries so that she can catch him. But when she gets to the spot where Charlie could have fallen, she ends up catching a necklace in her hand. Confused, she looks up and sees that Charlie managed to grab hold of another branch with his one hand as he catches the nest with his other hand. As Charlie looks and sees that the Spearows are unharmed, he looks down and sees Maria and the necklace in her hand as he says: "It's a good thing that you're here, Maria…"

After Charlie managed to get down from the branch and explains the situation to Maria, though leaving out the part that he shrunk since he believes that she won't believe him, Maria then says: "I see… But aren't you worried that something bad could happen to you?" Charlie then says: "I did, but when I see the nest falling, I know that I can't let anything bad happen to them. Speaking of which." Charlie then looks down at the nest full of Spearows that he is carrying as he then says: "I need to bring you guys back home to that Fearow." He then looks up and sees the Fearow circling the tree as he wonders how he'll get up there with a nest in his hand. But then Zeus starts to pull on Charlie's leg, which catches his attention as he says: "Huh? What is it, Zeus?" But then Charlie looked out and saw that the sun was starting to set. At that point, Charlie realizes that if he goes and places the nest back up, he won't be able to have enough time for Charlie to get back home. He then looks at Maria and says: "I'm sorry that I have to ask you this, but would you mind bringing this nest back up for me?" This confuses Maria as Charlie looks at the nest again and says: "It'll be okay, she'll help you get back to your home." Charlie then passes the nest to Maria as he grabs the necklace from her and says: "I would do it myself, but I'm late enough at it is and I really need to get going." Charlie then proceeds to leave as Zeus and Jen follows Charlie as Maria says: "Wait a minute! Why are you late?!" But Charlie says: "Sorry, but I can't explain!" As Maria sees Charlie off with Zeus and Jen, Maria looks at the nest that Charlie gave her as she says: "Well… I better get you guys back home."

Meanwhile, back at the Lestorm's house. Alex and Max are looking outside as they wait for Charlie as Alex says: "What's taking Charlie so long? The sun is about to set." And while Alex was getting impatient, Max is more conflicted as he still wonders why Charlie would cover for him as he says: "I wonder if something happened to him?" Alex then looks at Max and says: "Unless he's intent on taking the necklace to town and pawning it, he would've been here by now." "Oh, there you are, you two." Albert said as Alex and Max turned around and saw Albert walking up to the two of them as Albert then says: "I've been looking for you two." As Max says: "Um… Father…" Albert cuts him off as he says: "Hold on Max. There's something that I need to tell the two of you." This confuses the two brothers as Max says: "Huh?" And Alex said: "What is it, Father?"

Back in the fields. Charlie is rushing back home as the sun is continuing to set. Charlie is starting to run out of his breath as he didn't realize that he travelled far from home, ever since the Fearow stole the necklace from the log. With the last of his breath spent, Charlie falls to the ground as Zeus and Jen catch up to him and try to get him back on his feet. But Charlie says: "I can't… Go on… I'm… Too tired…" Just as Zeus and Jen are getting worried, the sound of neighing can be heard from the distance as they look behind them. There, they saw Maria on her Rapidash as Charlie says: "Maria…" Once Maria catches up with Charlie, Maria says: "Have no fear, Charlie. Those Spearows are safely back in their home." Hearing that has caused Charlie to say: "Thank you, Maria. I mean it." Though this causes Maria to say: "In that case, let me take you back home in record time." As Maria extends her hand, Charlie gladly takes her hand as he says: "Right." Charlie then gets up and gets on Maria's Rapidash as he sits behind her. As Charlie gets comfortable with Maria, Maria says: "Alright, here we go!" Maria then gets her Rapidash going as the two make their way to Charlie's home as both Zeus and Jen follow them.

Back home. Albert, Alex and Max are in Albert's room as the two brothers are confused over what Albert is going to show them. Albert then heads into the dresser and opens the dresser's doors as he says: "Take a look at this, boys." Albert then presses the sides of the inside of the dresser as the back of the dressers wall pops open. Albert then opens the back wall as it reveals a surprise for both Alex and Max. And that's father's most prized possession, the brooch gemstone necklace with brown lacings. This causes Alex to say: "What the… That looks like your prized possession, Father." Before Albert could explain, they heard knocking on the door as they heard: "Father! Guys! I'm back!" This causes Albert to say: "Oh my. I forgot that Charlie was out today." At the front. After Charlie thanks Maria for the ride, he continues to knock on the door as he says: "Father, I'm back with your necklace." The doors then open as he sees the three walking up to him. Charlie then says: "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding father. And I know that it took a while, but I got your necklace back." As Charlie hands Albert the necklace, Albert starts to chuckle as he says: "Well, you are honourable. And I did forget about the whole thing…" Alex then says: "Yeah, too bad it took you all day." Albert then says: "Unfortunately… It seems that your efforts were in vain." Before Charlie could ask what he meant, Albert proceeds to toss the necklace to the ground as the gem cracks from the stones on the dirt. This shocks Charlie as he rushes over to the necklace as he says: "Why did you do that, father?!" And Albert starts to laugh as he says: "Because that necklace is actually a fake. A duplicate that I have made." While this confuses Charlie, he looks at Albert as he sees him pull out an exact necklace as he says: "This is the real necklace." Alex then says: "You can keep that fake one. After all, it suits you perfectly." Alex then starts to laugh as Zeus and Jen see the whole thing as Jen says that she can't believe how cruel Albert and Alex are. Cinder joins the two as while she's disgusted at the two's behaviour, she then says: "Yes. But it looks like it has an effect on Max." Curious, Zeus and Jen look at Max and sees that he has a concerned look on his face.

As the night skies shine over the house. Charlie is looking out at the night skies with the fake cracked necklace around his neck as Charlie says: "I know that this necklace is a fake and all. But it is still a beautiful gem." Down below. Zeus, Jen and Cinder are watching Charlie from the ground as Zeus says that he can't believe that he isn't mad at Albert and the family for their cruel nature and Jen agrees with Zeus. Though Cinder then says: "That's because Charlie has a kind and a generous heart. And when you have a kind and generous heart, it doesn't take much to smile like that." Cinder then proceeds to cast a spell at Charlie's new necklace. This causes the necklace to repair the crack damage and makes it into a real thing, which surprises Charlie as he looks down at his necklace as he says: "Whoa! The gem is really shining!" This also amazed both Zeus and Jen as Jen says that the necklace Charlie has is much better than the necklace that Albert has.


	18. A Possessed Artist

**A Possessed Artist**

At the Lestorm's house. Charlie is busy setting up some tea and snacks in the kitchen for the brothers. He is also making some for the artist that is currently working on a portrait for Alex and Max. Earlier, Albert had requested Charlie to go to town and find a good artist for his sons. And despite Charlie having a hard time looking for a good artist, he did hear about a Smeargle who painted for royalty and nobleman. And upon finding the Smeargle and seeing his work, he believes that he can do a good job with Alex and Max. Once the tea set is ready, he brings the tray out of the kitchen and heads to the hall. As he enters the hall, he spots the painting that's hanging on the wall. While it's a simple artwork of a garden with a fountain next to it, Charlie remembers the fond memories that he has with his family when his late father bought the painting. "Charlie. Charlie!" Albert's voice says as it catches Charlie's attention as he looks at the living room doors and says: "Coming."

In the living room, both Alex and Max are looking at the Smeargle's draft work as Alex says: "What kind of art is this?! There's no way that it looks like us!" The work that the Smeargle made is nothing more than a simple pencil drawing of Alex and Max sitting on a couch as the Smeargle hasn't begun his art yet. And as Max says: "I think you made my stomach a little too big." The Smeargle proceeds to say: "Hold on, you two. I just made an outline, I still need to colour the work and put in the details." At that point, Charlie enters the room as he says: "Did you call for me, father?" Albert, who was watching the Smeargle working on the draft, looks at Charlie and says: "Where did you find this incompetent artist. He is clearly awful at his job." Charlie then explains: "Well… I found him in the town square after I heard from some of the noblemen on how good his art is. I even took a look at his art and they are really good." But Albert simply said: "I should've known not to trust your judgement. It's made pretty clear that these noblemen shoved this failure of an artist to try and sabotage us." Before Charlie could say something, Albert looks at the Smeargle and says: "And as for you, you're fired." This shocks the Smeargle as he says: "What?!" Albert then says: "If you really are a good artist, then you would have captured the true charm of my sons. We'll just find another painter." Alex then says: "And once we got a proper painting of us, we'll send it over to the princess. She'll be so amazed that she'll have to marry me." This causes Albert to laugh as he says: "That's a great idea, Alex. Let's hope this simple delay won't give them enough time for the princess to marry the wrong man."

As the Smeargle grabs his belongings and starts to leave the house, Charlie goes up to him and says: "Hold on!" This causes the Smeargle to look at Charlie and says: "Didn't you hear. He said that I'm fired." This causes Charlie to say: "I'm sorry. I know your art is good. It's just that they are being unfair with how they want things." But the Smeargle says: "There's no need to apologize. I knew the feeling that the second I looked at them, they would be difficult. Anyway… I have to get going now." As he heads for the door, his eyes notice the garden painting on the wall as he says: "Wait… Is that… Misery's painting?" This causes Charlie to ask: "Misery?" And the Smeargle proceeds to say: "Yes. She's famous among the artist world. I saw a similar painting like that when I was a child and it inspires me to become an artist." This causes Charlie to say: "I heard from my late father that this is one of his favourite paintings and that he really took good care of it." The Smeargle then looks at Charlie and says: "Well it is hard and rare to find any of her earlier works these days." Hearing how good this Misery is has given Charlie an idea as he says: "Say, don't you know where I can find Misery?" This causes the Smeargle to think, before proceeding to say: "I heard she lives on her own at the old castle. It's surrounded by a gloomy fog and a devastating waterfall. I think you can find it if you go north from the Espérer's castle." "Go north from Espérer's castle…" Charlie says as he figures that if he can convince Misery to help paint Alex and Max's portrait, it would help his father out.

Meanwhile, at the castle. Lionhart is looking at his older portrait of him on his Rapidash with Madam Nicole and Duchess Emily looking at the portrait with him. While Lionhart is glad to hear how her daughter is taking more responsibilities in her life from Nicole, Lionhart still wants to show his daughter how important it is to be a future queen as he says: "Having a portrait of her in the castle will help give her a clear idea on how she will be the future queen of the castle." Though this causes Nicole to say: "Yes. But the artist that made your portrait has long since retired, my lord." This causes Lionhart to say: "Yes. And it is difficult to find an artist who has the skills to make a gorgeous portrait like this." But then Emily proceeds to say: "Do not worry, my lord. I just happen to know an excellent artist. Unfortunately, she is rather eccentric about her surroundings and won't leave her place for any means." And although Nicole says: "If she intends on not leaving her home, then how will she paint the princess's portrait?" Emily replied: "Well if you want, we can escort the princess to her place and have her paint there if you want." Before Nicole could respond, Lionhart sat at his throne as he proceeded to say: "Very well. I'll leave her care to the two of you." Even though Nicole is suspicious of Emily's plan, the two face the king and bow their heads as they both said: "It will be our duty, my lord." "Did you call for me, father?" Princess Maria says as she enters the throne room. As both Nicole and Emily look at the princess, Lionhart proceeds to say: "Ah, excellent timing daughter. You are going to have your portrait painted by an artist. Nicole and Emily will help escort you to the artist's place." This causes Maria to say: "Nicole and Emily are going to escort me?" Emily then proceeds to say: "Do not worry, my princess. We will keep you safe. But it is a long trip so we should get going soon."

At the halls of the castle. Maria already knew that Emily is up to something, but she has no idea what her plan is. So Maria and Nicole meet up with Skarlet and explain the situation to her. After hearing that, Skarlet proceeds to say: "Yeah… It's quite suspicious that you're heading to a place that's far away from here. I should follow you, just in case." Nicole nodded as she said: "Yeah, I agree." Maria then proceeds to say: "Emily… She must have already set the trap for us and is ready to use it on me. We need to figure out what that trap is and defuse it." With the preparations set, Maria, Nicole and Emily enter the carriage as they make their way to where the artist Emily mentioned. As they are heading there, Maria is staring out at the window as she makes quick glances at Emily as she sees how confident Emily is as Maria wonders what Emily is planning. What Emily doesn't know is that from the distance behind the carriage, Skarlet is on her Rapidash as she follows the carriage, while hoping that Maria is safe from the dangers ahead.

The place that Emily mentions is an old castle that is surrounded in a midst of fog as the path to the old castle is on a narrow rocky path with a series of whirlpools down below, should anyone fall. From the distance of the castle, Skarlet is watching the castle after the others arrive at the old castle as she intends to keep an eye on anything suspicious and signals Maria of the danger. Inside the castle, Maria is waiting until Emily returns as Nicole examines the room they're in. As Nicole slides her finger on some objects and examines it, Maria says: "So what did you discover?" Nicole then says: "Not much, except that nobody has been in this room for years." Maria starts to get suspicious as she wonders what sort of trap Emily has in this castle. While in the other room, Emily kneels in front of the chair that's in front of a fireplace as Emily proceeds to say: "It's an honour to meet someone who's famous as you, Misery. Your skills are well known from within the artist's world and I know that it would be an honour for you to use your skills with our princess." This causes the Mismagius that is known as Misery to say: "If you are aware of my skills, then I take it you are aware of my "other" skills." This causes Emily to say: "Of course." She then places two bags full of gold on the table as Misery looks at it, before proceeding to say: "Do you really think I would use my skills for some pitiful sum?" This causes Emily to smirk as she places down four more bags full of gold on the table as Misery looks at it again as Emily says: "I take it this is enough for someone with your "Skills", right?" But then, they heard the bell ringing as Emily looks confused while Misery gets up as she says: "That was the bell. Go to the princess and let her know that I'll get the room ready for her."

After Charlie remembers the directions the Smeargle said, he stands at the front doors of the castle after he pulls the rope, while Zeus and Jen follow Charlie to make sure that he's safe. After a while, Charlie proceeds to say: "I wonder if this Misery is home…" As Zeus believes that someone is home since he's smelling someone inside, Charlie pushes at the door to see if it's open. This causes the door to open, which surprises Charlie as the three enter the castle. As they look around, Charlie notices the wall of portraits of different people and Pokemon as Charlie says: "Wow… Those portraits are beautiful. And they're all done by Misery." While Charlie is amazed, Zeus and Jen are more disturbed as Zeus says that those portraits are rather creepy, while Jen says that it could be that the two of them don't know much about art, though does agree that it is creepy. "Who goes there." An older woman sounding voice says as it catches the attention of the three. The three then look around, until Charlie notices the Mismagius on the second floor. This causes Charlie to say: "Um… Sorry for barging in, but I was wondering if you knew where I can find Misery?" This causes the Mismagius to say: "Who's to say. Misery is quite busy with an important task at hand. So what is it that is so important that you must drag her out of her important task?" As Zeus pulls on Charlie's leg to try and get him to leave, the Mismagius looks at Charlie and says: "From the looks of you, you don't even have anything valuable. So I'll save both of our time and ask you to leave this place now." As the Mismagius proceeds to leave, Charlie quickly says: "Please wait! The reason why I came here is to ask Misery if she can paint a portrait!" This causes the Mismagius to stop as Charlie then hears the Mismagius saying: "Do you have one hundred gold coins?" While this confuses Charlie, the Mismagius then said: "If you don't have it, then go away." This causes Charlie to say: "While I don't have it, I can sure that my father would-" "Do you really think Misery is going to go all the way to your home when they sent you to do their dirty work?" While Charlie was stunned, the Mismagius says: "If they want a portrait done, then he should come himself and not send you."

"That's not my only reason!" Charlie says, just as the Mismagius was about to move. Charlie then says: "I have a painting that was done by Misery that my late father has. He always says that painting is one of his favourites and it was also my favourite. It's the reason why I came here, so I can ask Misery to paint my brothers portrait. But… I don't have any gold coins on me. I'm sorry to have wasted your time." As Charlie turns around, the Mismagius notices Charlie's face in the light and is captivated by his charm. Not wanting to let him go, the Mismagius proceeds to head over to Charlie as she says: "Wait a minute! Let me take a good look at you!" While Charlie stops as he looks confused, the Mismagius proceeds to look at Charlie's face as she confirms how charming he is as she says: "Yes… I have never seen a more charming man than you. Tell me, what is your name?" And as Charlie says: "I-It's Charlie, miss." This causes the Mismagius to smile as she says: "Charlie… Tell me. Would you like me to paint you a portrait?" Charlie was surprised as he said: "Really? But… I don't have one hundred gold coins…" This causes the Mismagius to giggle as she says: "Do not worry. When my pride as an artist is awakened, I will always paint something that interests me. So do not worry about the payment, Charlie. Misery will take care of you." And it was at this point, Charlie realized that the Mismagius is Misery herself.

In a separate room. Charlie is sitting on a couch with Zeus and Jen nearby as Charlie is getting excited that he is getting his portrait done, even though he did intend on asking Misery to paint a portrait for his brothers. Charlie then notices that Misery is painting on a wooden doll as Charlie asks: "Um, excuse me? What are you painting?" Misery then says: "I'm doing a simple portrait on you with this puppet so that I can get a clear focus on the canvas." Once Misery is done with her painting, she shows Charlie the puppet of him as Charlie says: "Wow. It's amazing. You can make puppets as well?" And Misery explains: "Yes. It was one of my many skills. But that was in the past." She then hangs Charlie's puppet on the wall with the other puppets, which Jen and Zeus find very creepy, as Misery heads to the canvas as she then says: "But now, I must ask that you remain quiet." Charlie nods as he says: "Of course." As Charlie remains quiet, Misery takes out her brush and starts painting on the canvas. As Misery continues to paint, Charlie starts to feel tired as he lowers his head. Misery spots him and says: "Stay where you are!" This causes Charlie to quickly fix his position as he says: "Right. Sorry about that." As Misery continues to paint, Zeus is worried about Charlie as he notices his skin getting paler and paler. Jen on the other hand is noticing Misery as she sees a dark aura around her as Jen wonders what Misery is planning to do with Charlie. As Misery is almost finished with Charlie's portrait, Charlie's body is starting to get weaker and weaker as he struggles to sit up as Charlie says: "What's… Happening… I can't… Stay up…" As Charlie looks at Misery for a sign that she would notice, Misery continues to finish the portrait as Charlie ends up collapsing on his legs.

Seeing Charlie fainted, both Zeus and Jen go up to Charlie and try to wake him up by shaking his body. With no response, Zeus and Jen realize that Misery is up to no good as they need to get Charlie out of there now. And as Zeus pulls on Charlie's hand to bring his body on top of Jen's body, Misery notices this as she says: "Hold it! I'm not done with him yet! Put him down, now!" Not listening to her words, both Zeus and Jen proceed to leave the room with Charlie on top of Jen as Misery then says: "Get back here! I won't let you leave until I'm finished with my work!" Both Jen and Zeus then proceed to head down the stairs and through the doors as Misery starts to chase the two as she says: "Come back here with that boy!" But then she notices Emily entering the halls as she looks at Misery and says: "How long do you need to set the room up?! If you intend on wasting any more of our time, then I'll take my money back and we will be on our way!" Seeing that there's no way of getting Charlie back, she then looks at Emily as Misery says: "I was just about to come get you, Duchess Emily. The room is ready now."

In the fields. Jen is getting tired from carrying Charlie from the castle as she drops to the ground. Zeus then gets Charlie off of Jen as Jen looks at Charlie and wonders what happened to him. Zeus is also confused but he then says that they must get Charlie better and figure out what Misery did that causes Charlie to faint in the first place. Jen agrees as the two look around for anyone to help Charlie since Jen is too tired to carry him. Eventually, Zeus and Jen spot Cinder from the distance as she's painting the scenery as Zeus starts barking to get her attention. And when Cinder hears the bark and turns towards the two, she discovers the fainted Charlie and hurries over to him as she places her hand on his forehead. Feeling a fever, Cinder grabs her cloth and wets it by a small stream nearby and places it on his forehead. Eventually, Charlie opens his eyes as Cinder says: "Are you okay, Charlie?" Charlie then slowly sits up as he says: "Cinder… What… Where am I…?" But Charlie then starts to get a headache as he then says: "Ugh… The last I remember… I was getting my portrait done by Misery…" This causes Cinder to say: "Misery?! Did you say Misery?!" While Charlie is confused, he nodded as Cinder then says to herself: "Misery… She must be at it again…" She then looks at Charlie and says: "Listen to me, Charlie. We must take your portrait out of the castle."

Meanwhile, back at the old castle. Maria is sitting on the chair as she stares at Misery, who is painting something on a wooden puppet as Emily and Nicole look at Misery. And as Nicole says: "What are you doing?" Misery then looks at Nicole and says: "Just painting this puppet I made from the clients that come to my home." And as Misery finishes the painting on the puppet and hangs it on the wall, Nicole proceeds to say: "Okay then…" Misery then heads to her new canvas as she starts to paint the portrait of the princess as Emily and Nicole keeps an eye on Maria. While Misery continues to paint, Maria looks at Emily as Maria sees a smile on her face. _What is it that you're planning, Emily? Why would you drag me to this old place and what does it have to do with this old creep?_ Misery then notices Maria staring at them as she looks at the two and says: "Madam Nicole. Duchess Emily. I'm afraid that you are distracting the model, so I must ask that you leave." Emily then proceeds to say: "As you wish." As Emily leaves the room, Maria looks at Nicole and nodded at her to signal her to follow Emily. Nicole nodded back as she looked at Misery and said: "Very well." Nicole then proceeds to leave the room as well, leaving only Maria and Misery. As Misery continues with her painting, Maria starts to get weaker as she lowers her head, while her skin turns pale. Misery notices this as she says: "Stay where you are!" This causes Maria to slowly sit back up. _What's happening to me… It feels like my strength is getting weaker… But how…_

Back at the field. Charlie, Zeus and Jen are following Cinder back to the old castle as Charlie is wondering what CInder is doing. Cinder then explains: "You see, Charlie. Misery was using her skill to suck your soul from your body and put it into her puppets with the help of her paintings. It's the reason why you were feeling weak. And once she has the soul, she uses it to control people and obtain wealth for her. If it wasn't for Zeus and Jen, Misery would have taken your soul too." Hearing that has shocked Charlie as he says: "But I don't understand… My late father has always praised the art for how wonderful and full of life it is." And Cinder then says: "I know. At one point, Misery is a genius and well-talented artist. But then everything changed ever since the 'incident' happened." "The incident?" Charlie asked as Cinder replied: "Yes." Eventually, the gang managed to reach the old castle. Though Zeus and Jen are starting to get creeped out again as Zeus and Jen pull on Charlie's leg while Cinder says to herself: "It sure is dreadful…" Cinder then looks at Charlie and says: "You should wait here, while I'll take care of Misery." Charlie then says: "Hold on. The way that you describe Misery, you made her look like she's dangerous." But Cinder then says: "Yes. But do not worry. I can handle her." She then proceeds to head into the castle as Charlie watches as he hopes that she will be okay.

Inside the old castle. Nicole is waiting in the halls when she sees Emily walking up to her with two cups of tea in her hand. As Emily says: "Found anything suspicious yet?" Emily proceeds to hand Nicole a cup of tea. Even though Nicole knows that Emily is planning something, she grabs the cup from Emily as she says: "Nothing yet." As the two take a sip out of their tea, they hear a door opening, which catches the two's attention. They then hear the voice saying: "Hello? Misery? Are you here?" Curious, the two heads down the hall as they spot a Delphox downstairs as she appears to be looking for someone. Emily then says: "If you are looking for Misery, she's busy with an important task. But if you happen to be lost, then we will gladly give you direction on where you need to go." What the two don't know is that the Delphox is Cinder as she looks at the two and while she recognizes the two, she doesn't know what Emily is planning and if Nicole is part of Emily's scheme or not. Cinder then proceeds to say: "Oh no. I've actually come here to see my old good friend. We were young students and I thought I would give her a surprise." This causes Emily to say: "I see. Then I'll tell her that you're around." This causes Nicole to look at Emily and says: "I wasn't aware that the two were students…" And Emily replied: "Neither did I. But at least she isn't dangerous."

Cinder then proceeds to say: "My… It's been a while since I came here. It feels like I'm seeing her work for the first time." As Cinder climbs the stairs, the two notice her as Cinder then says: "It makes me want to go see her working again." As Cinder goes past the two, Emily proceeds to say: "Hey! Wait a minute!" As Emily goes after Cinder, Nicole was about to follow them when her body starts to get tired. Confused, Nicole drops to her knees as she says: "What… Why is…" And just as Nicole realizes what's going on, she ends up falling onto the ground. And as Cinder goes to the door and opens it, she discovers a pale Maria on the chair as Misery is painting. Just as Cinder says: "Maria…" She is suddenly caught in a large bag as she then says: "Hey! What are you doing?! Let me go!" During the struggle, she accidentally drops her wand on the floors of the hall as she gets dragged away. As it turns out, it was Emily that had tied Cinder in a bag as she dragged her to the dungeon below. Once she tied Cinder in a chair, she drags the unconscious Nicole in the dungeon after she drugged her tea with a sleeping drug. She then closes the dungeon doors and locks it as she then says: "There we go. Now I'll know that there won't be any more interference for now on." As Emily heads back up, Cinder angrily says: "What's the meaning of this?! Let me go! You hear me! Let me go!" Realizing the situation she's in, she proceeds to say: "Oh no… Charlie isn't the only one in danger, Princess Maria is also in danger. If only I hadn't dropped my wand…. Zeus, Jen. If you can hear me, please help!"

Back outside. Charlie, Zeus and Jen are waiting for Cinder to come back safely from the castle when Jen and Zeus both hear Cinder's cry for help. It was at this point that they realized that Cinder is in danger. This causes the two to get up, which catches Charlie's attention as he says: "What is it, you two?" Zeus and Jen then proceed to run towards the castle, which causes Charlie to say: "Wait! Where are you going?!" But Charlie continues to see Zeus and Jen heading towards the castle as Charlie realizes that Cinder must be in trouble as he goes after the two. Back inside. Maria continues to get weaker as Misery continues to paint as Emily watches the progress happening. _What's… Happening… To… Me… Why…_ As Misery puts in the final touches, Maria's skin continues to get paler and paler as her eyes turn pale. As this was going on, Emily watches with glee as her plan is going accordingly to plan. And her plan is to trap Maria's soul in the puppet that Misery just made, then use the puppet to control her will as she will use it to get her son to marry her "willingly". And even if Dan doesn't want to marry the princess, she can still use the princess to satisfy her needs.

After Charlie manages to catch up to Zeus and Jen, the three proceed to enter the castle. As they make their way up the stairs and to the room where they last entered, Zeus and Jen notices the wand on the ground and Zeus realizes that Cinder must have dropped it. As Zeus picks up the wand, both Zeus and Jen hurry as Zeus follows Cinder's last scent as Charlie notices the two as he says: "Hey. Where are you going?" But as Charlie sees the two heading downstairs, Charlie says: "Man… What are these two doing?" Charlie then proceeds to get on his knees and peek through the keyhole as he realizes the horror behind the door. And that is seeing Princess Maria in a very bad state as she is very pale. And as Charlie gasps, he notices Misery's painting of the princess is almost complete. Remembering the words from Cinder, Charlie starts to get nervous. _Oh no… The princess portrait is almost complete. And if that happens… What can I do to stop this… Unless…_

"Who goes there!" Emily says as she opens the door, which causes Charlie to get shocked as he stands up. As Charlie figures out a plan, Emily looks at Charlie as she says: "Why do you look so familiar?" Putting his plan into action, Charlie proceeds to go pass Emily as he says: "Oh, Miss Misery." Misery then looks over and as she was surprised to see Charlie as she says: "Charlie?" Charlie then says: "I'm terribly sorry about what happened earlier. You see, I was in a hurry to find you that I've forgotten to eat my meal beforehand. But now that I've got something to eat, I was wondering if you would finish my portrait." This causes Misery to smile as she says: "Of course. I would gladly finish your portrait. But would you mind waiting outside? I'm just about to finish this portrait." But Charlie then proceeds to say: "But I insist. I wanted to see your beautiful artwork done right in front of my eyes by a lovely lady." As Misery starts to blush, Emily is having none of it as she grabs Charlie as she says: "I have heard enough! You need to get out of this room now! You will wait until she is done with her client!" As she drags Charlie out of the room, Charlie yells out: "Hey! Let me go!" And this causes Misery to angrily say: "Let him go now, Emily! This is my home and I will decide who gets their portrait done!" But Emily then says: "Have you forgotten who it was that paid you to do this? You are paid to do the princess portrait. And once you are done with that, I'll let you finish with his portrait." But Misery is getting furious as she ends up tossing the four bags of gold down as it lands in front of Emily, which causes Emily to say: "What do you think you're doing?!" Misery then says: "Listen here, Emily. No one tells me what to do, no matter how much wealth they have. And if you intend to continue with your orders, then I'll throw the princess's portrait out. Got it!" As Emily gets angry but remains silent, Misery grabs the princess's portrait as she says: "I thought so." She then grabs Charlie's portrait as she then says: "Now, Charlie. Grab a chair so I can finish your portrait." Charlie then gets out of Emily's grasp as he says: "Thank you, miss." As Charlie grabs a seat, Emily simply says under her breath: "Stubborn fool…"

Downstairs. As Cinder continues to shout out: "Hello! Anyone out there?! Let me out!" While that's going on, Zeus and Jen reach the dungeon door as Zeus lets out a bark. This catches Cinder's attention as she says: "Zeus? Jen? Is that you?" After Zeus lets out another bark, Cinder then proceeds to move her chair to the door as she says: "Listen to me, because this is very important. You need to get your hands on both Charlie and Princess Maria's portrait and wash them away. That's the only way you can release their souls before they get sucked in into those puppets. And while you're at it, see if you can find my wand." Zeus then lets out a bark as he puts the wand down on the ground. Zeus then says that he'll take care of the portrait while Jen should give the wand to Cinder. Jen agrees as she grabs the wand as Zeus hurries back upstairs. Back in the room. As Misery places Charlie's portrait back on, Charlie looks at the princess in her state, before looking back at Misery. _I did my part to make sure that the princess is safe. Now I hope that you can get us out of this situation. Zeus. Jen. Cinder. I'll leave the rest to you._ As Misery resumes painting Charlie's portrait, Charlie can already feel like his body is getting weaker as his skin turns pale.

And at that moment, Zeus burst into the room, which catches both Misery and Emily's attention as Emily says: "Now what…" As Zeus goes up to Charlie and sees if he's okay, Charlie doesn't respond as Misery continues with her painting. Realizing the situation, Zeus looks over and sees Maria's portrait as Emily says: "Get out of here you stupid mutt." But then Zeus ran over and grabbed Maria's portrait, just as Emily says: "Hey! Drop that portrait now!" As Zeus heads out of the room and out of the castle, Emily proceeds to chase after Zeus as she says: "Get back here with that portrait, you stupid mutt!" As Zeus rushes over to the fields, he notices the stream from before and goes into it as he submerges Maria's portrait into the water. Just as Zeus was getting it wet, Emily manages to catch up to Zeus as she says: "Stop, you flee bag!" And as Zeus lets go of the portrait, Emily goes into the stream as she hurries after the portrait. But at that point, the paint starts to wash away. And as Emily grabs the portrait, it is already too late as the wet canvas lets out a bursting light, which blinds Emily for a bit. And then the canvas lets out a green mist as Emily gets scared while the mist flies towards the skies.

Back at the room. As Misery is finishing the final touches on Charlie's portrait, she starts to laugh as she says: "Just a few more touches and his soul will be mine to control. His soul will be placed in this lovely portrait and I would have a charming man on my side…" As she continues to laugh, what she doesn't see is Princess Maria's skin returning to normal as she slowly sits up and says: "Ugh… What… Happened…" But as Maria takes a look around, she quickly spots Charlie as she is shocked to see Charlie is very pale and weak, causing her to say: "Charlie?!" This catches Misery's attention as Maria goes up to Charlie and says: "Charlie! Can you hear me?! Please wake up! It's me, Maria!" But then Misery starts to laugh as Maria looks at her as Misery says: "I didn't think that you would be back so soon. But do not worry, you'll get to see him again. And once this painting is done, you'll get to see how beautiful this portrait and his soul is." This causes Maria to say: "What are you talking about?!" And Misery then says: "Just wait until I finish this portrait and you will find out." And it was at this moment, Maria discovers the trap as she pulls out her rapier and points it at Misery as she says: "You used dark magic to trap people's souls into paintings! And then you use your puppets to control their will!" This causes Misery to grab Charlie's portrait as she says: "Yes… When you live long enough to see how cruel people are, you learn to use their cruelty to your advantage. And yet with Charlie… He's different. It's been so long since I've seen someone as charming as him. So I decided to use my skills to make sure that he stays with me for all time." This gets Maria angry as she says: "I won't let you use your dark magic to control people's will! Give me that portrait or I'll cut you down!" This causes Misery to say: "Normally, this will be the part where I say "Do you really think you can cut me down?", but you know what. I'll let you have this. Feel free to cut me down so I can be with my paintings. But do tell me this, how do you plan on getting Charlie out?"

While that's going on. Jen is crawling through the vent with a wand in her mouth since she couldn't get the lock open. Eventually, Jen managed to get through to the other side of the vent and headed over to Cinder and placed the wand down, causing Cinder to say: "Thank you, Jen. Now let me take care of the rest." Cinder then uses her spell to bring the wand back to her hand as she then says: "With the area bound enough, I will make sure that there's a way out." Cinder then casts the spell as the dungeon door proceeds to unlock itself. Cinder then says: "Now with a way out, now is the time-" But then Cinder hears some moans nearby as she realizes that Nicole is in the room as well, causing Cinder to hide her wand and says: "Jen, see if you can wake Nicole up." Jen wasn't sure what Cinder was talking about until she spotted the Gothitelle on the floor. Realizing what Cinder is talking about, Jen goes over to Nicole as she proceeds to lick her face. As Nicole slowly opens her eyes, she sees that she is in a dungeon as she says: "What happened…" Once Jen sees that Nicole is waking up, she proceeds to hide in the vent as Nicole sees Cinder tied up. This causes Nicole to go up to her and says: "Are you okay?" Even though Cinder knew who it was, she ended up saying: "Huh? Who's there?" Nicole then proceeds to say: "Don't worry, I'll help you out." Nicole then proceeds to untie the rope from Cinder and pull the bag out. This causes Cinder to look at Nicole and says: "Thank you, miss. But what about the other one?" This causes Nicole to say: "No problem, but… What other-" She then realized that Maria could be in danger as she says: "Stay here, I need to go help her." She then runs out of the dungeon as Cinder stands up from the chair.

Back at the room. Maria remains hesitant as Misery notices her hesitant as she says: "Oh? Why so quiet? I take it you don't know how? After all, you did just wake up." As Maria continues to remain quiet as she knows Misery is telling the truth, Misery proceeds to say: "I guess it's a shame. It looks like you won't beat me today." Misery then starts to laugh as she rushes towards the window and jumps through it. As Misery lands on the ground and starts to run away, Maria heads towards the broken window as she says: "Get back here!" She then jumps down through the broken window as she gives chase to Misery. As Misery goes around the two corners of the castle, she soon spots Skarlet blocking her path as Skarlet says: "Hold it right there! I won't let you escape!" And as Skarlet pulls out her rapier, Nicole bursts through the doors and joins with Skarlet as she says: "It's over Misery! There's no way out!" As Maria catches up to Misery, Misery has her paintbrush ready as she says: "Do you really think you can strike me down faster than when I put the final touch on this portrait?" As there's a standoff with Maria's group and Misery, Cinder is by the doors as she says: "There's still a chance for Charlie and a chance for Maria." Cinder then proceeds to cast her spell at the skies, which change the weather from a foggy sun to some dark clouds. The clouds then begin to rain as thunder strikes can be heard. As it rained, Misery focused on the group, waiting to see if they were going to move first, that she didn't notice the rain hitting the portrait. This causes the paint to drip down and ruin the portrait, which causes the blinding light to appear as Misery sees the ruined portrait. This causes Misery to say: "No! Not my portrait!" As the green mist appears from the portrait, Misery starts to get discouraged as the mist goes into the sky.

With the portrait ruined, Misery drops her portrait and paintbrush as she gets sad as she says: "My… work... This… This was supposed to be my first portrait that I wanted to work on in a long time…" As Misery drops to the ground in defeat, Maria sheaths her rapier and joins with Skarlet and Nicole as Skarlet says: "Is it over?". Maria then says: "I believe so… At least we won't have to deal with her sorcery anymore." And at that point, Cinder exits the castle as she says: "Are you okay, miss?" The three then look at Cinder as Nicole says: "Yes. We're fine." And then Maria says: "Hold on, there was another boy that was getting the portrait done." And as Nicole says: "There is?" Maria then says: "Yes, someone should check and see if he's okay." But then Skarlet says: "We can't. We don't know if there are other dangers out there. We need to hurry back to the castle." And as Maria says: "But-" Nicole then looks back at Cinder and says: "Excuse me. But would you mind making sure that the boy is safe?" Even though Cinder knew Charlie was going to be fine, Cinder then says: "Well… Okay, then. I'll make sure that he's okay." Nicole then nodded as she looked at Maria and said: "Come on, we need to return to the castle." Maria was silent, but then she looked at Cinder and said: "Okay. I'll leave him in your hands." The three then hurry to the carriage as they head back to the castle. And as Cinder watches them go, she looks over at Misery as she has been crying for some time. Meanwhile, Charlie's body is getting back to normal as he looks around and sees both Jen and Zeus as Charlie says: "Zeus… Jen… Thank you... " Charlie then looks around and sees that both Princess Maria and Misery are nowhere to be seen as he then says: "I wonder if the Princess is okay…"

As the three exits the castle, Charlie sees Cinder as he says: "Cinder! Are you okay?! And is Princess Maria okay?!" As Charlie goes up to Cinder, Cinder says: "Yes. I'm fine and you shouldn't worry. I've seen the princess returning to her home." Charlie then sighs as he says: "That's good…" But then he notices Misery crying as he asks: "What happened to her?" Cinder then explains: "A long time ago. Misery was a gifted artist and puppeteer who painted a lot of portraits of royals and nobles. She was well respected and many want to pose for her. But just as things were going well, a terrible incident occurred where a lot of lives were taken from us, including most of the ones that were painted by Misery. So whenever Misery goes into public, there's an underlining fear among them that they could lose their life to Misery. Eventually, they started to spread rumours that Misery is capable of trapping people's souls into the paintings and puppets that she created. The rumour was then spread to the kingdom and they chased her out. With nowhere left to go, she ends up staying at this place. And as time goes on, Misery has let the rumour overtake her mind as she believes she knows how to trap people's souls into painting." As the rain stops pouring and lets out the sun, Charlie gets sad as he says: "So in the end. She was a puppet by a misunderstanding rumour."

He felt pretty sorry for Misery as and ill feelings towards her are gone as Charlie goes over and picks up the wet canvas as he says: "Misery… I can understand why you would do something like this. But I know that you are more than capable of doing stuff like this if you have hope." As Misery stops crying and looks at Charlie with a confused look in her face as Charlie then says: "So I was wondering if you would paint another portrait of me?" And as Misery says: "You want me… But… Aren't you worried that I might take your soul again?" But Charlie shakes his head as he says: "Don't worry about it. Ever since I was a little boy, I always wanted to have my portrait done by Misery. And I'm not going to miss this chance." Misery was surprised as she gets up from the ground and goes over to Charlie as he passes the canvas to Misery. As she looks at it, Cinder says: "Do not worry about having his soul trap, Misery. The rain washed away the fog that clouds your mind and I know that you will make art with love and hope." Misery then starts to cry again as she says: "Thank you… I… I really mean it… You really brought my life back…" She then proceeds to go on Charlie's chest as she continues to cry and while Charlie was surprised at first, he ends up hugging Misery as he comforts her.


	19. To Exquisite an Arsonist

**To Exquinish an Arsonist**

At the Lestorm's house. Ruby is relaxing on the stairs to the back entrance as she basked in the sun. But her relaxation is constantly being interrupted by Zeus and Jen nearby as when Ruby looks over, she sees the two of them chasing each other around. It was bad enough that Jen was spending more time with that mutt and a fraud who believes that he's a nobleman, but now is ignoring her true master of the house. But that doesn't concern her as she closes her eyes so she can rest. What she doesn't expect is that when Zeus starts to chase Jen, Jen reaches up the stairs and jumps over Ruby, which causes Zeus to end up crashing into Ruby. And even though Zeus sees Ruby getting up from the crash and tries to say sorry, Ruby was having none of it as she turns and faces Zeus. And within a quick second, Zeus ends up being chased by Ruby as Jen tries to go after Ruby to calm her down. But as Zeus continues to get chased by Ruby, Albert exits the back entrance as he calls out: "Ruby! Ruby! Come here, girl! We're going out!" This causes Ruby to stop and head over to Albert, which gives Zeus a break. As Ruby heads to Albert's side, the two head back inside the house. But not before Ruby looks at Zeus and sticks out her tongue. As the two head insides, Zeus and Jen know that Ruby has poor sportsmanship.

In the town. Albert and Ruby are doing their shopping at a fancy hat tailor as he says: "Hm… What to get for Alex and Max…" Even though Albert has bought Alex and Max plenty of new clothing, Albert always wants to make sure that his sons remain at top of their game as he believes that either one of the two of his sons will be destined to marry Princess Maria. And as he browses the store with Ruby, Albert hears one of the customers saying: "So what do you think? This hat does the trick?" Then another customer says: "I doubt it. It's the type that would get you mugged." And as the first customer says: "Really? I figure this hat would fetch me a royal meeting?" The other customer then says: "If it is with Princess Maria, then you better give it up. After all, it looks like Princess Maria is never going to marry anyone." This catches Albert's attention as he looks over to the two customers as one of them says: "And why would you say that?" And the other customer says: "There's been a rumour going around that she went to the flower festival, just to look at the bachelor of the pageant. And she didn't fall for a single one." This causes the first customer to say: "Really? Is it because she's too beautiful?" And the other customer says: "Who knows." Albert knows these customers are the type of people that would spread rumours, regardless if it's true or not. And it's the type of people that Albert can take advantage of as he heads over there, leaving Ruby to be confused.

As the two customers continue to browse for hats, Albert joins in on the two as he grabs the hat that's obviously too small for him as he says: "Excuse me." As the customers move over, Albert heads to the mirror as he tries the hat on as he says: "Do you believe that this hat would be suitable for a visit to the castle?" And as Albert expects, the two customers wonder what he is doing as Albert then explains: "I should explain that it's not for me, but for my two sons. They are in desperate need of some new hats." This causes one of the customers to say: "You mean your sons got invited to the castle?" And Albert says: "Yes, by the King himself." This causes the two customers to look at each other before the other customer proceeds to say: "Well it must be quite special for your sons to get hired as servers for the castle." While this comment got Albert mad, he calmed himself quickly as he then said: "No, no. It's nothing like that." Albert then proceeds to begin his plan by going in between the two customers and whispers: "Now… I'm not supposed to say this, but I can trust that you two can keep it a secret. You see, both of my sons have been accepted as top candidates for the royal fiance." This shocks the two as Albert goes and switches the small hat with another as the two customers say: "You mean your two sons could be the next king?!" Albert then laughs as he says: "Of course. I'm surprised that you didn't hear about it." But then the two customers started to laugh as one of them said: "Do you honestly believe that rumour is true?!" And the other customer says: "Yeah! Anyone can claim that they're right for Princess Maria's Fiance, yet none of them came true!" However, Albert keeps his cool as he says: "While I don't know about the other candidates, I know for sure that the two have a very good chance of marrying the princess since they have a strong relationship with Duchess Emily and Madam Nicole." This shocks the two as they say: "Madam Nicole and Duchess Emily?!" Albert then says: "Now if you excuse me, I must finish with my shopping." As Albert heads off, the two customers start talking to each other. Which was expected for Albert.

Some time has passed in the Lestorm's house as Charlie is doing his chores when he hears the front doors knocking. This causes Charlie to stop with his usual chores as he heads to the front door while saying: "Coming." But as he gets close to the front door, he can hear chatter from the other side of the door, which confuses him. But when he opens the door, he is overwhelmed by merchants, traders, tailors and designers as they enter the house and blabber on about stuff Charlie doesn't understand. This causes Charlie to say: "H-Hold on for a moment." Charlie then heads into the living room where his family is as Charlie says: "Father. There's a lot of merchants, traders and designers at the door." This causes Alex to say: "Oh? They must have heard the rumour about me and the princess." Albert then says: "My… I'm surprised at how the truth can get distorted. Shall I go and tell them the truth?" And Max says: "Don't worry, Father. They're only believing that we would get married. Who are we to crush their dreams." And Alex says: "Max is right. We just got to get used to the fact that everyone would be chasing after me." Albert then says: "If that is what you wish, then who am I to go against it. Send them in, Charlie. We're ready." Even Charlie realizes what's going on, he can't help but say: "Yes… Father…"

Elsewhere. The rumour of either Alex and Max marrying the princess has even reached the castle as the servants and workers are considering the rumour to be true. This doesn't bode well for Emily as she sits in her study room with Maximillian and Lucard as she says: "Now, this stupid rumour has reached the castle. Everyone is talking about it non-stop." Maximilian then says: "Yes and if we don't stop this, then there's a chance that the King would consider Alex and Max Lestorm as serious candidates." This causes Emily to get angry as she says: "You idiot! Don't you think I already know that! What I want to know is who was it that spread the rumour in the first place?!" And Maximillian then says: "Well… I don't know the exact source… But I did learn that Duke Albert claims that his sons have an excellent relationship with you and Madam Nicole. He was on his way to buy his sons hat for their visit to the castle." This causes Emily to say: "What?! Albert has gone too far!" This causes Lucard to say: "Not to worry, Duchess. I have already set up a plan that involves a rather… Infamous man to teach Albert a lesson he will soon remember." Knowing what Lucard is talking about, Emily smiles as she says: "Good. Then all I need you to do is to make sure this plan goes through, Lucard." Lucard bows his head as he says: "Of course."

As the night skies shine over the Lestorm's house, Albert is looking over the gifts and suits that were given by the group of merchants and tailors from earlier as Charlie enters the room. Albert then says: "Good timing. I want you to make a list of all the things that we'll need for a wedding." As Albert hands Charlie a small notebook and pen, Charlie asks: "Um… If I must say, do you think that it's a little risky?" As Albert looks at Charlie, Charlie then says: "I mean, you haven't even announced the engagement yet. It's only a rumour." Albert then smirks as he says: "While it is a rumour at first when you play your cards right, that rumour can transform into reality. Though perhaps your "concern" is only an excuse to get out of your chores since you are jealous of your brothers." And as Charlie quickly says: "No! That's not true! I just though-" But Albert cuts him off as he says: "Well don't, Charlie. For now on, you will do as I say. And I won't have you ruin this big moment, do you understand me? This kingdom will have their eyes set on us and I expect that you will not embarrass us." And as Albert leaves the room, Charlie remains in the room as he worries that things will backfire for Albert and his brothers.

In Alex's room. Alex is reading his book on the bed when he hears a knock on the door. As Alex looks at the door, he hears Max saying: "Hey Alex, mind if I enter?" And Alex replied: "Sure, why not." Max then enters the room as he says: "You know… After trying out the suits Father got for us, I'm actually convinced that I would get to marry the princess. It's so exciting that I couldn't get some sleep." But Alex just laughs as he focuses on his book as he says: "Then I suggest you head back to sleep. At least there, you can dream whenever you want. Because once you wake up, you'll only be seen as the Prince's younger brother." Max then says: "Easy for you to say. But let's not go through with this argument again. I've actually had a reason for coming here." Alex then says: "Oh? And that is?" Max then says: "I want you to teach me how to tell scary stories." While this confuses Alex, Max says: "Come on. You're always good when it comes with stories, I'm sure you can give me a few pointers." Alex then closes his book as he says: "Fine. But I'm only going to tell you one story."

With the lights dim, the two brothers sit on the bed as Max says: "Oh man… I can't wait…" Alex then begins his story by saying: "There's a legend around that there was a young maiden who has magic on her side. But then a terrible illness has taken the young maiden. And the mansion that she lives in has started to rot and decay… And they thought that nobody would touch the rotting mansion until a necromancer enters the mansion." Max then says: "Man… It's getting creepy…" But then a sudden crashing noise can be heard, which shocks the two brothers as Max says: "Alex… Is this part of your story…?" And Alex says: "W-Why would I do something like that…" And as the crashing sounds continue, Max says: "M-Maybe… Jen and Ruby are fighting over a Magikarp again…" And Alex replied: "N-No way… These noises are more frequent than that…" As the two brothers are getting terrified, the crashing noises continue. In the attic. Charlie is going through the list as he says: "Man… I don't even know where to start… As if I have ever been to a big wedding before..." But then the crashing sounds have caught Charlie's attention as he wonders what's going on.

The noises that were going on had woken Albert as he left his room and shouted: "What's going on here?!" As he heads to the halls to discover the source of the noises, he quickly realizes what's going on. And that his house is getting raided by bandits. But what catches his attention, much to his horror, is a lone man standing next to a lone small bowl of oil. Just as Charlie heads to the hall with the brothers following behind him, Albert spouts out: "Charcoal Flaze…" The man that was called Charcoal proceeds to say: "Albert the Pride. A fool who managed to convince the town of your lies." And Albert says: "What are you talking about?! Who are these cowards?!" And Charcoal replied: "Coward? They're no coward. They're the results of your lies, Albert the Pride. But fortunately for you… Fate has granted you a chance..." As the family is confused, Charcoal proceeds to light a match from his pocket as he then says: "Leave the kingdom behind, Albert the Pride. For if you failed to listen…" Charcoal then proceeds to toss the match into the bowl, which causes the oil to flair up high as he then says: "Then the flames will consume all of you…" Charcoal then turns around as he says: "Our time is done. Let us go." The bandits agree as they leave the house. And as they bolted in their Zebstrikas, Zeus started barking at them, even though he knew it had little effect.

As the sun rises. Charlie is forced to clean the mess the bandits made as Albert says: "I can't believe those cowards would dare trash the home of our future king." And as Alex says: "Are we going to move out like he said, Father?" Max says: "And who was that Charcoal Flaze guy?" Albert comforts them as he says: "He's just some coward who thinks he can intimidate us. And we won't leave this house behind." Charlie then says: "At least we're lucky that nobody was hurt." But this causes Albert to say: "Luckey?! Charlie, this mess is your fault! Had you simply informed me of the danger and not babble on with some nonsense, I would have hired some guards!" And although Charlie was shocked, he resumes with his cleaning as Albert then says: "I refused to let anyone push me around. I'll have to move Cesar to go guard the house. In the meantime, I want the two of you to remain home for your safety. Who knows what sorts of danger we could be facing." And as the two say: "Yes Father." Albert then says: "And as for you Charlie." As Charlie looks at Albert and says: "Yes?" Albert then proceeds to say: "You will join Cesar on guard duty at night, instead of sleeping." This causes Charlie to say: "You want me to stay up for the whole night?" Albert then says: "Of course. It is your punishment for your ignorance. I don't want anything to happen to my sons." This causes Charlie to say: "Yes…" Albert then says: "I will make sure that nobody will take your dreams, my sons."

At the old building. After Charcoal informs Emily, Lucard and Razor of what happened, Emily starts to laugh as she says: "Good. I wish I was there to see his face. And if Albert knows your reputation, he would be already packing his bags to leave this kingdom." But then Lucard proceeds to say: "I'm afraid that it didn't happen, Duchess. My scouts have informed me that the Duke has brought the caretaker to guard his home." This doesn't please Emily as she says: "What?!" Lucard then says: "That's not all. Albert has even gone as far as to spread rumours about a bunch of burglars breaking into his house, but he managed to chase them away." As Emily says: "Naive fool…" Razor starts to crack his fists as he says: "I guess we have to do the dirty work then…" Charcoal then says: "I am not surprised… Albert the Pride refused to admit his failures and shift his blame to someone else. Well, now his fate is sealed."

In the town. Charlie left the locksmith with a brand new set of locks for the door and proceeded to head home. But as he heads home, he hears the voice saying: "Hey, Charlie!" He turns around and sees Maria heading towards him as Charlie says: "Oh, hello Maria." As Maria says: "So, do you have time to hang out?" Charlie says: "Wish I could, but I'm glad that you came. I need to tell you something important." Charlie then grabs Maria and drags her as Maria says: "Huh? What are you…" At the park, Charlie explains to Maria about the situation that he's in. Including details such as Albert spreading the rumour and the bandits breaking into the house, though he does leave out the detail about Charcoal Flaze. After hearing all of that, Maria says: "Oh. So that bag is full of new locks." Charlie then says: "Yeah. Father wants to make sure that the house is secured." This causes Maria to say: "I see… And those bandits must have put a scare in your family." Charlie nodded as he said: "Of course… But the reason why I came to you is that I want you to teach me how to fight with a sword." This surprises Maria as she says: "Eh?! You want me to teach you how to fight?!" Charlie then says: "Of course. Would you mind teaching me how?" Even though Maria doesn't want to put Charlie in danger, she knew that if the bandits were to strike again, Charlie would be in danger. So in the end, she says: "Of course, if you insist."

After Maria grabs a couple of sticks and passes one to Charlie, the two take their stance as Maria says: "Okay, Charlie. See if you can hit me with the stick." Even though Charlie has no idea how to approach, he nods as he proceeds to strike. But Maria dodges his predictable attack, which confuses Charlie. Maria then decides to mess with him as she continues to dodge Charlie's predictable attacks. After Maria dodges Charlie's latest attack, Maria taunts by saying: "What's wrong? Tired already?" This causes Charlie to say: "Not in your life." But as Charlie is about to strike, he ends up being disarmed by Maria in a quick second. While this shocks him as he says: "Man… How did you do that…", Maria proceeds to say: "Well your attacks are pretty obvious. Even a Ralts could figure out your attack." But Charlie replied: "But I need to improve my skill if I were to defend my home." Maria then says: "Oh? And do you think that you can do this yourself?" Charlie then says: "Well it's not just me. I also have Zeus, Jen and Cesar to help me out." But Maria replied: "Sure. But you can't exactly defend your home when you lose your sword." This causes Charlie to get mad as he says: "Oh yeah…" Charlie then grabs Maria's stick as he then says: "Let see how you like it when you don't have this!" Charlie then proceeds to strike at Maria, though Maria continues to dodge his attack as Charlie says: "It doesn't matter how many bandits that I face, I will defend my home, no matter what!" But Maria continues to dodge his attack as she says: "Yeah, you sure will give them a scare." Getting fed up, Charlie stops his attack as he says: "Forget it. It's obvious that you're not taking this seriously." Charlie then tosses the stick down as he says: "I'll face them myself. Even if I have to face this Charcoal Flaze guy." As Charlie leaves, Maria says: "Charcoal Flaze?" Hearing that has frightened her as she knew the history of him since he is a dangerous arsonist and a deadly sword fighter that has taken many lives. And if Charlie is going through with this, Charcoal could claim another life. This causes Maria to run up to Charlie and says: "Hold up, Charlie! Let me teach you for real. Honest."

After Maria manages to properly teach Charlie how to use the sword, the two make their way back home as Maria tells Albert about how she can help the family with guard duty. But Albert simply says: "Sorry, but we don't have time for you. We are already busy as it is and I don't have time to deal with you." And as Maria says: "I-I see…" Alex looks at Albert and whispers: "Hold on, Father. We're pretty much short on guards and it wouldn't hurt to have extra help." And Max then whispers: "Yeah. I know she's not the brightest. But she is young and strong." And as Albert thinks to himself, Maria wonders what Albert is thinking. As the night skies shine, Cesar guards the back while Zeus and Jen guard the side entrance. While Maria stands guard near the front entrance with her Rapier ready as she scans for any signs of the bandits. She then hears the door opening as Maria sees Charlie as he says: "Ready to switch posts?" "Charle?" Maria says as she notices the outfit Charlie is wearing as he steps out. Charlie is wearing a musketeer outfit as she says: "Wow. You look like a real musketeer." And Charlie replied: "Well your lessons did help me feel like I'm a real musketeer." And Maria replied: "Yeah. And I'm surprised that you're a fast learner. But I think it's too early to switch." And as Charlie says: "Are you sure? You've been standing here for an hour." Maria replied: "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Charlie then says: "In that case, let me make you some hot tea." And Maria replied: "That would be lovely." And as Charlie heads inside to make some tea, Maria resumes her guarding position. Unbeknownst to her though, is that someone is staring at her from the distance.

On the next day in the castle. Maria is fast asleep on her chair, after dealing with the night patrol at the Lestorm's house. As Maria sleeps, both Skarlet and Nicole are watching her as Nicole says: "Did you really stay up all night standing guard?" And Maria sleepily says: "Yep…" Skarlet then says: "Well while you were standing guard, we were practically worried about you. I almost sent out a search party just to find you." And Maria replied: "You shouldn't… Worry about it…" Skarlet then says: "Easy for you to say. You wouldn't believe the stories we have to make, just to cover for you." And Nicole then says: "At least you manage to scare those bandits away." But Maria then sleepily says: "They didn't show… They might strike tonight… Have to be there…" But Skarlet says: "But you can't go! Don't you remember what today is?! Your parents are throwing a huge party and they're expecting you to be there!" Nicole then says: "Skarlet is right. If you are worried about them, we can send some guards over." But Maria then says: "Can't… Only fuel rumour… Make things worse…" As Nicole remembers the rumour and realizes that it would make things worse, Skarlet says: "I'm sorry, but you can't bailout. I'll make sure that you can't leave." But as things remain silent, Skarlet asks: "Are you listening, Maria?" But Skarlet discovers that Maria is still sleeping as Skarlet lets out a frustrated sigh as Nicole says: "This is going to be a long day…"

As the night skies shine over the Lestorm's house. Charlie is standing guard when Cesar exits the house, wearing a knight's armour. This causes Charlie to laugh as he says: "What are you wearing, Cesar?" Cesar then looks at Charlie as he says: "You may laugh. But I believe that this armour is intimidating. After all, this armour has been through a lot of battles." Cesar then heads downstairs as he goes around to the back, while Charlie sits on the ground with his short sword read as he says: "Okay then. I'll guard the front entrance if you need me, Cesar." But as Charlie is on guard, Zeus and Jen are wondering where Maria is, since she promises she'll be back. Charlie can feel their worry as Charlie says: "You guys. I'm sure Maria is on her way right now. She maybe got caught up with something important. After all, she is a great friend to me. In the meantime, I'll stand guard until she's arrived." Even though Zeus and Jen are worried about Charlie, they trust him as they head to the side entrance of the house.

Upstairs, Max is watching Charlie guarding the door in Alex's room as he not only can't sleep from the last attack but also a fear of when they will strike again. Alex was sleeping when he saw Max as he says: "What are you doing in my room, Max…" Max then says: "I'm watching Charlie through the window. Do you think that he's going to be okay?" Alex then says: "He'll be fine. Besides, he's not as smart as us, so he's not that sensitive to danger. Now hurry and go back to sleep or Father will scold us." Max then looks at Charlie again as he says: "Right…" Back outside. Charlie is scanning the area to the best of his abilities when his eyes start to get sleepy. With the fact that he hasn't been able to sleep for the past few days, it causes him to feel sluggish. As Charlie is about to succumb to his sleep, he hears the front door opening, which puts him on alert. He then hears a voice saying: "Are you okay, Charlie?" He looks over and sees Max as he says: "Max?" Max then passes a tray with a cup of hot tea as he says: "Here. I figure you'll need this."Touched by Max's concern, Charlie grabs the cup as he says: "Thank you…" Max then says: "Just stay safe." Max then closes the door as Charlie is amazed that Max is concerned for him. Elsewhere, Zeus is hungry as the two know that they can't abandon their post or risk giving the bandits a way inside. Just as they wonder what to do, a loaf of bread hits Zeus in the head. While the two are confused as they look up and see who it was and find nothing, Jen believes who it was that dropped Zeus some food for them.

At the castle. A party is underway as many of the invited guests are enjoying themselves with the King and Queen. Among them are Maria and Skarlet as the two hang around by the wall. Though her mind is focused on trying to hurry back to Charlie so she can stand guard. But with Skarlet standing next to her, it makes things difficult for her. And as Maria says: "You know, Skarlet. You don't have to stand so close to me, I'm not a lost little Ralts." But Skarlet says: "Nice try, Maria. But I know you very well. The moment I have my back turned, you'll bolt out of this castle in a matter of seconds. Well, I'm not falling for it." This causes Maria to sigh as she says: "Sheesh… You made me look like I'm the most untrustworthy princess in the kingdom…" And as Maria takes a sip of her drink, she tries to figure out how to leave the place and fast.

Back at the house. Charlie continues with his guard post when from the distance, a set of eyes is staring at Charlie. Those sets of eyes belong to Charcoal Flaze. Charcoal was spying on the place for a few days as he waited for the perfect time to strike. And when he spotted Charlie succumbing to his sleep, he knew it's time to strike as he heads over down to his makeshift hay as he says: "Now… It's time for the flames to consume this mansion." He then grabs the branch and lights it with a match, before proceeding to toss it into the haystack. This causes the haystack to lit up in flames, which signals Razor and his bandits to strike. After a few moments, Razor and his bandits are charging towards the house while on their Zebstrikas. As they charge towards the house, Charcoal looks at the house and starts walking towards it as he says: "Albert the Pride… Tonight… The flames will consume you…"

As Charlie continues to guard the house, the sounds of clopping have caught his attention as he says: "What the…" And within a split-second… The bandits burst through the bushes as Charlie lets out a scream, which causes the whole house to be on alert. As Charlie tries to get into position, one of the bandits jumps out of the Zebstrika and tackles him to the ground as Razor and the other bandits get off their Zebstrikas and charge towards the front door. This causes the front doors to burst open as they charge in. Charlie tries to struggle from the one bandit that tackled him to the ground. But Charlie manages to get the upper hand as he got his legs on the bandit's body and pushed him away. Charlie then got his sword ready as the bandit decided to go around the building. Even though Charlie wanted to chase after him, he knew that the others are in danger as he headed inside.

Inside. Max bolted into Alex's room as Max says: "Alex! They're inside! Those bandits are inside!" As Alex gets up from his bed out of fear, his bedroom door breaks open as the two are backed up to the wall. One of the bandits then enters the room with a small dagger in his hand as he says: "Ah. Just the two that I'm looking for." As the bandit approaches the two, Alex spots the pillow and decides to grab it and toss it at the bandit. And although the bandit manages to chop the pillow with ease, the feathers scatter around him as he gets blind from the feathers. This allows Max and Alex to go past Razor with ease as the bandit gets distracted. Alex then proceeds to grab the chair and hits the bandit in the back of the head, which causes the bandit to fall onto the floor. This causes Alex to say: "Ha! You're not so tough now, are you!" Max, on the other hand, is running down the hall to try and get away when he hears footsteps heading towards him. He decides to stop at the corner of the hall and wait till he passes. And once the bandit passes, Max proceeds to trip the bandit. And as the bandit tumbles, Max shoves the bandit towards the wall, which knocks him out. This causes Max to boast as he says: "You sure are clumsy for a crook!"

In the dining room. Charlie searches for the bandits when he hears some noises inside. But as he searches, two bandits enter the room with daggers in their hands as they spot Charlie. And just as Charlie spots the two bandits, the two proceed to charge at Charlie with their daggers at hand. But thanks to Maria's training, Charlie is able to dodge the two bandits with ease and gets into position. The two bandits then try to charge at Charlie again, but Charlie is able to disarm the two bandits with a quick slice. As the daggers hit the wall, the two bandits cower in fear as Charlie points his short sword at the two as he says: "Stand down, you two." Even though Charlie has to take care of the other bandits, he is glad to have won his first battle. Outside, the bandit is dealing with Cesar after managing to escape from Charlie as the bandit charges at Cesar. But Cesar proceeds to use the blunt end of the lance to knock the bandit out as the dagger only touches the armour Cesar is wearing. Once Cesar sees the bandit is knocked out, he proceeds to say: "Looks like this armour has survived another battle." As this was going on, Charcoal finally arrives at the house, when he's confronted by Zeus and Jen. Charcoal just smiles as he says: "If you're smart. I advise you to stand down after you receive your pain." Zeus tries to charge at Charcoal, only to get kicked by Charcoal as he lands on the ground. Jen goes to Zeus to comfort him as Charcoal heads to the house.

Back at the castle. Maria takes a break from the party as she heads to her room to pick up something. And as expected, Skarlet is following Maria to make sure that she doesn't bolt on her. But when they arrived at her room, she stopped in the hall, which caused Skarlet to bump into Maria. This causes Skarlet to back up and says: "S-Sorry about that, Maria. I-I didn't see that you stop. I didn't mean to bump into you." And as Maria says: "It's fine. It's fine. You don't need to be a ball and chain for me. I'll just grab something from my room and come back." Maria then proceeds to enter her room as Skarlet says: "Right, right. I'll be here if you need me." Once Maria enters her room, Skarlet stands in the hall as she waits for Maria to return. Five seconds later, Skarlet wonders if she grabbed something from the back of her room. Ten seconds later, Skarlet starts to get suspicious as she stares at the door. Fifteen seconds later, Skarlet decides to burst into her room as she says: "You better not-" But upon entering, she quickly discovers that Maria had managed to escape her by using the window in her room. This causes Skarlet to say: "Maria…"

Back home. Razor and the few remaining bandits manage to circle around Charlie and his family as Charlie has his sword ready. But then they hear someone saying: "It looks like the flames have surrounded you, Albert the Pride." They then realize that the voice is coming from Charcoal as Razor moves to the side as Charcoal walks up to them. Charcoal then says: "I give you a chance to run, yet you forfeited that choice, Albert the Pride." This causes Albert to say: "What is it that you want! If you are after money, name your price and I will pay for it!" But Charcoal proceeds to say: "Your money has no value. All I'm after is your lives." As it scares the family, Razor then says: "You should have left when you have the chance." But then Albert proceeds to say: "I will not leave this kingdom! One of my sons is destined to be the future king of this kingdom." As Alex and Max nodded, Razor says: "No you won't! You two haven't even seen the princess, how can you expect her to marry someone who she doesn't met!" Charcoal then grabs a flask and pours a liquid down his sword, which confuses the family as Charcoal looks at Charlie and says: "You there. I know you're not part of Albert the Pride's corrupted family. If you value your life, I am willing to let you go. But if you choose to stand and fight…" Charcoal then proceeds to the candle that is lit and uses his sword to touch the fire. This causes the fire to burst into flame as he then says: "Then I shall take your life away." Charlie is scared since he hasn't heard of anyone lighting his sword up in flames on purpose. But he knew that if he runs and lets the family suffer, then he will never forgive himself. So he stands ready with his short sword as Charcoal walks back as he says: "I see… Then you have made your choice…" Razor starts to laugh as he raises his long sword and says: "Good… Then I can make this quick!"

Suddenly, a rock hits Razor's hand as he lets the sword go. As Razor feels his hand in pain, he looks behind and says: "Who did that?!" As Charcoal looks behind him, they see Maria at the entrance as she says: "I won't let you harm this family!" Charcoal then says: "So the unexpected ally shows up. Too bad it won't make a difference…" Charcoal then proceeds to strike at Charlie, which he manages to block. And Maria charges the group as Razor says: "Get her!" The bandits then proceed to charge after Maria with their swords, while Razor grabs two torches from the bandits. And as Charlie and Charcoal clash with each other, Maria manages to defeat the remaining bandits as she faces off against Razor. As Charlie and Charcoal continue to clash, Razor says: "You will never beat me. I stake my life on it!" Razor then strikes at Maria with the torch as she barely dodges it. As Maria continues to dodge Razor's torch strikes, Charlie and Charcoal continue to clash as the flames on Charcoal's sword are causing Charlie to get scared. But when he spots Maria struggling to deal with Razor, he realizes that he needs to help her. And with split-decision thinking, Charlie proceeds to block Charcoal's strike and proceeds to push him with his sword, which causes Charcoal to say: "What do you think you're doing?!" But Charlie manages to push Charcoal's flaming sword to the back of Razor as the sword touches the cloth.

This causes the cloth to burst into flames as Razor drops his torches while Maria is surprised by it. In an effort to save his skin, Razor removed the cloth that he was wearing. However, he ends up tossing the burning cloth to Charcoal, who has pushed Charlie away, as the cloth landed on Charcoal. As Maria sees Razor's face, she says: "What the!" Before Razor could say something, Charcoal has burst into flames as he screams in agony, which forces him to drop the flasks that he has on the ground as he flees the home. However, the flasks end up breaking as oil spills out and lands on the floor near the torches. As the flames of the torch touch the oil, it bursts into flames as it separates Charlie and the family from Razor and Maria. Realizing the situation, Razor says: "Come on, boys! Let's get out of here!" The bandits then proceeded to flee with Razor as Charcoal manages to douse the flames from his body and sword. As the others flee, Charcoal stands up and looks at the house as he says: "Listen to this… I've got your face memorized… I will not rest until the flames have consumed the two who dared to face against the flames… Farewell for now… But be prepared for the future to come, for when that happens… I will make my move..." Charcoal then proceeds to leave as Maria recognizes Razor. That Pangoro… He mentions that he worked with Emily…

"Maria!" Charlie said to get her attention as Maria turns around and sees the flames have surrounded Charlie and his family. It was at that point where Maria had no idea how to save them, since trying to find a water source to put out the fire would take too long as the family started to panic. Outside, Zeus manages to recover from the kick, when the two spotted Ruby fleeing the house with her tail on fire. Knowing what to do, Jen hurries to grab the bucket full of water from the well, while Zeus proceeds to tackle Ruby to the ground. And as Ruby struggles to get out, Jen proceeds to bring back the bucket and dump the water on Ruby's tail. While Ruby was whimpering, Zeus gets off of Ruby as Ruby looks at her burnt tail. But before they could get the chance to speak, they are distracted by the screams of the family inside. It was at that point, Cinder was heading there when she spotted the fire as she says: "It looks like they get into trouble a lot, so I better help them out." Cinder then cast her spell, which causes the fire to die out and dry up the oil that was spilled from Charcoal's broken flasks.

As the family sees that the fire is gone, Alex says: "The fire… It's gone." Max then says: "The wind must have taken care of the fire…" As the two sighs in relief, this gives Charlie and Maria some time together as Charlie says: "I'm glad that you made it here in time, Maria." Maria then says: "Yeah..." Maria then proceeds to hug Charlie as she says: "And I'm glad that you're unharmed, Charlie." As Charlie smiles and hugs back, Charlie asks: "And here I am, wondering if they did anything to you." Maria then giggles as she says: "Don't worry… They haven't laid a scratch on me. And I'm sure that they won't be back." The two then continue to hug each other as time passes as they are glad that nobody is hurt. Outside, Zeus and Jen grab some supplies as they tend to the burnt wound on Ruby's tail. But once they are done and Ruby looks at her tail, she takes a quick glance at the two before proceeding to head back inside. While Zeus was wondering what caused her to do that, Jen says that Ruby must be suffering herself as Ruby won't admit that she's glad that she was helped. Nearby, Cinder watches the event that happens as she says: "It's true. Your kind actions have touched your friend's heart. I'm sure that she will help you and repay your kindness." But then Cinder hears a voice saying: "Listen here! You will not stop me from getting my sons to marry the princess!" As Cinder looks at the voice, she discovers Albert on the patio as he then says: "I will only move when Alex or Max marries the princess and becomes a King of Espérer! You hear me!" This causes Cinder to giggle as she says: "Well, I can't blame him for having a dream."


	20. Heading towards Happiness

**Heading towards Happiness**

At the Lestorm's house. Charlie is busy sweeping the ground as a part of his chores. As he sweeps, he notices a mailman heading towards the house. As the mailman stopped in front of the house, Charlie made his way over to him as he said: "Hello, sir." The mailman then steps off of his carriage and grabs some mail from his satchel as he says: "Hello Charlie." As he passes the mail to Charlie, Charlie says: "Thank you, sir." As the mailman heads back onto the carriage and drives off, Charlie takes a look at some mail when he spots a name that he hasn't seen for a long time. [From: Nancy Lestorm] This causes Charlie to get excited as he hasn't heard anything from his mother, since the parade. Wanting to read the mail, Charlie proceeds to head to his room. But before he could enter the house, he is stopped by Albert at the front door. Upon seeing the letter, Albert swipes the letter and looks at it as he says: "You do realize that this letter is addressed to me, right?" Albert then flips the letter to show: [To: Albert Lestorm] After Albert goes inside, Charlie was shocked that the letter wasn't for him. In Albert's room, Albert sits on his bed and opens the letter as he reads the note inside.

[Dear Albert. I know that it's been a long time since we last met, but I want you to know that I will always have you and our lovely three sons in my heart. I was about to make my return when I was hired by an ambassador of another region to display their antiques to one of our towns in the region. However, fundings were low on our end, we were worried that we would not make the trip. But fortunately for us, a Duchess by the name of Emily has proposed to pay for the trip in exchange for a hand in marriage from the ambassador's daughter. And while the ambassador agreed as we made our deal, Duchess Emily brought me over and explained to me that her son is too young to marry the ambassador's daughter and was wondering if I knew anyone willing to represent her as the ambassador's daughter's husband. And it was at this point that I remember Alex is old enough to marry her and when I mention him, Duchess Emily agrees with the decision. So now the ambassador's daughter will be making her way to our home, so I ask that you give her a wonderful time with Alex. And please tell Charlie that I miss seeing his wonderful smile. Your lovely wife, Nancy.]

Even though Albert is supposed to be happy, he is furious as he says: "Emily…" Despite his anger, he is able to prevent himself from crumbling up the note that he has. Albert then proceeds to toss his note on the counter as he then says: "How dare she manipulates my lovely wife into forcing Alex to marry him off. It's obvious that she is trying to marry my son off so that his son can marry the princess. Well, I'll make sure that it never happens!" Then Charlie enters the room as he brought a tea set for Albert. As Charlie places the tea set on the table, Charlie asks: "Father, what was in Mother's letter?" Albert then proceeds to say: "She was about to return home, but her work has forced her to stay for much longer than intended. Aside from that, your mother is fine, Charlie. And the rest is for my eyes only." This causes Charlie to say: I see…" Even though Charlie is sad that her mother won't be coming home yet, he is at least glad that she is safe and well. They then heard Alex's voice saying: "Charlie! Get over here, right now!" This causes Charlie to leave Albert's room and says: "Coming." And as Charlie leaves his room, Albert is suddenly hit with an idea. An idea that can not only foil Emily's plan but also ensure that his sons remain on top as his top choices for the hand of the princess.

In Alex's room. Charlie is being told by Alex to gather the clothing that is on the ground that was caused by Alex when he is trying out different pieces of clothing. As Charlie lifts the basket with the clothing, Alex says: "Now make sure that you give these clothes a proper wash!" Charlie then says: "Yes, Alex…" But before Charlie could leave the room, Albert enters Alex's room with a suit in his hands as he says: "Oh, there you are. I was looking for you." As Alex sees his father, he goes up to him and says: "Hello, Father. I see that you are well and wise as always. And I am grateful that you would arrive in my room." Albert then says: "That's nice, Alex. But I'm actually here to see you, Charlie." This causes Charlie to say: "What is it, Father?" Albert then grabs the suit and says: "Here. I got this suit just for you, Charlie." This causes both Charlie and Alex to look confused as Alex says: "Huh?! Father! What are you doing?!" And as Charlie says: "A new suit… For me?" And Albert replied: "Of course. After all, you do deserve to be at your best once in a while. So don't worry about doing chores for a while and enjoy yourself." This causes Charlie to be happy as it's been a very long time since he has received a new suit. This causes Charlie to put down the basket and grabs the suit as he says: "Thank you, Father. I'll try this on right away." As Charlie hurries to his room, Alex says: "Father! Why would you-" But Albert cuts him off by saying: "Before you continue. I need you and your brother to come to my room. We need to have a serious discussion." This confuses Alex as he wonders what his father meant when he says that.

In Albert's room. After Alex manages to get Max, the two enter Albert's room as Alex says: "Okay, Father. What is it that you want us to know?" Albert then shows the two the letter as he says: "Here, read this." Confused, Alex and Max grab the letter and proceed to read the letter. But when they get to the part where Alex has to marry the Ambassador's daughter, Alex lets out a scream, which Max muffles Alex's mouth quickly. After Max lets go of Alex's mouth, Alex says: "Is this true, Father?!" And Albert replied: "I'm afraid so, Alex…" This causes Alex to say: "But I don't want to marry her!" Albert then says: "I know, Alex. But I have a plan that would help ensure that you won't marry the wrong girl." Albert then explains his plans to both Alex and Max. And while the two brothers are confused at first, they soon understand his plan as Max says: "Wow. You're brilliant, father." And Alex says: "I knew you would come up with an amazing plan." Albert then says: "Yes, but we must work together to ensure that this plan will work. We must work fast, or we would lose our chance to have either one of you to marry Princess Maria."

When Charlie puts on his suit, he is amazed that he looks like himself when he first moved into the new house. Even Zeus and Jen are amazed by it as they were watching him, though they are curious why Albert would go out of his way just to be nice to him. "You up here, Charlie?" Max says as Charlie hears footsteps nearby. As he turned around, he saw Albert, Alex and Max heading upstairs as they saw Charlie in his suit. This causes Albert to say: "My, you look rather elegant, Charlie. You reminded me of my younger days." Alex then says: "Yeah. I even have something for you." As Charlie is confused, Alex goes over and slips a blue rose on the front of the suit as Alex says: "These roses are a huge hit in town. Even I haven't tried them out and yet it matches the suit you're wearing." Albert then says: "Excellent idea, Alex. You sure know how to stylize." Max then says: "Oh, Charlie. Even if we hand you hand-me-downs, you would still look great." Hearing the praises from his family has touched his heart as he says: "Thank you…" But as he thinks about it, Charlie then asks: "But I must ask, what's all this-" But before Charlie could finish, the family hears a carriage as Albert looks out the window to investigate. As he looks out, he discovers a carriage heading towards the house as he says: "It seems we have a guest arriving. And awfully early as well." And although Albert says that, he suspects that Emily did it on purpose. Albert then turns to the boys and says: "Alex. Max. Go get ready so you can greet our guest." This causes both Alex and Max to say: "Yes, Father." The two then proceed to leave the room as Charlie wonders what Albert is talking about.

As they head to the lobby, they stop near the front as Albert says: "Welcome, dear guest, for I welcome you to our home." As Charlie looks over, he sees not only Dan but also a Lopunny in a gorgeous dress. Albert is also surprised that Emily is not among them, though he believes that it would make things easier for him, Albert then says: "Oh? I was under the impression that I would be meeting your mother." Dan then says: "It was supposed to be. However, I received a letter that she would be arriving later than expected. So I will have to take her place." Albert then says: "I see. Well, I'm sure that your mother is well." Dan then says: "Thank you." He then looks at the Lopunny and says: "Anyway. I would like to introduce to you the Ambassador's daughter and my childhood friend, Ashley." Albert and the family bow as he says: "We're honoured for such a lovely lady in our home, Ashley." Max then says: "And I must say that you are quite wonderful, miss." As Ashley bows her head, Dan says: "By the way. I was wondering which one of your sons is Alex?" Albert then says: "Alex?" Albert then starts to laugh as he grabs Charlie and says: "Actually. I would like to introduce you to our son, Charlie."

And as Dan looked at Charlie, he snapped his finger as he said: "Charlie? I knew it! I knew you have aurora of noble blood." Charlie starts to laugh nervously as he says: "Yeah. It's good to see you again, Dan." As Charlie bowed, Albert was getting worried since it seems like the two met each other before. This causes Albert to say: "Pardon me for saying this, but it feels like the two of you have met before. Is that true?" Dan then says: "Yes, though it was a night that I would like to forget, with the exception of what Charlie has told me. But aside from that, I was under the impression that you would introduce me to your oldest son, Alex." Albert then says: "I see. Well, I can understand the confusion. Your mother must have gotten the names from my son wrong, cause we have received the letter from my lovely wife that it was supposed to be Charlie. So the plans for the marriage of Ashley are all on Charlie." While this shocks Charlie, Dan then says: "I see." Dan then looks at Ashley as he says: "I should get going now. But I can tell you that I can trust Charlie in providing you with what you need." As Ashley says: "Huh?" Dan walks up to Charlie and says: "Charlie. It's good that we've met again." Dan then proceeds to leave as he says: "Take care!" But as Charlie tries to clear the confusion as he says: "H-Hey, wait…" Dan has already left the room, which leaves Ashley, Charlie and the family alone. Albert then says: "Now then, Ms. Ashley. We will guide you to a separate room where the two of you can discuss in private."

Charlie and Ashely are led to a separate room, where the two are alone together. While they were told to discuss their plans, neither of them spoke a word. What the two don't know is that in a separate room, Alex and Max are spying on the two to make sure that the marriage goes through. Unfortunately, they see that the two of them not talking as Alex says: "What's with these two? They're not talking." Max then says: "Ashley might be quiet, but Charlie is not doing any favours by remaining silent." Alex then looks at Max and says: "At least you weren't chosen to go and marry Ashley. Maybe it would be better if Charlie gets rid of her." Max then peeks inside and says: "You sure? After all, she could be your one and only chance to get married." But this causes Alex to say: "Don't be so ridiculous, Max. You know quite well that I will be the one that will marry the princess." This causes Max to say: "Don't lie to yourself, Alex. It's obvious that it will be me that will marry the princess. So just go and marry Ashley already." This causes Alex to grab Max and says: "What you say to me?"

In the other room, the two remained silent as Charlie was thinking to himself. Wanting to confirm something, Charlie says: "Um… Ashley?" As Ashley looks at Charlie, Charlie then says: "When you met my mother, did she say anything about wanting me to marry you?" Ashley then thinks to herself as she then says: "Um… I don't think so… But I think she misses you." Charlie then says: "I see…" Ashley then says: "Um… Is it true that you and Dan are friends?" Charlie then remembers the encounter he has with Dan and the two bandits the two have to deal with. While Charlie remembers yelling at Dan, he knows he can't say he hates him. So Charlie says: "In a way." Ashley then says: "If I must ask, I hope that you two remain friends." While this confuses Charlie, Ashley says: "You see… Dan doesn't have much friends. They say that he's arrogant and selfish. They even say that he got spoiled by his mother, but I know he's not that. He's kind and sincere… At least, when I'm around him." Charlie then says: "Yeah, that's how I feel when I'm around him." Ashley starts to smile as she says: "Do you really mean it?" And Charlie nodded. In the other room, the two are confused as Alex says: "Why do they keep talking about Dan?" And Max says: "If they keep it up, they'll never get engaged." "And just what are you two doing?" Albert says as he caught the two spying. Alex and Max then look at their father and Alex say: "F-Father… W-We were making sure that Charlie is okay." Max then says: "Yeah... We're just making sure that he's okay." As Albert starts to get curious, he heads to the door as he says: "Let me see then." In the other room, Ashley says: "You know. I bet Dan would love to have brothers around. I can imagine he must be envious of you…" Before Charlie could answer, they hear a door breaking. As the two look at the door, they see the door fall and crash on the floor with Albert, Alex and Max on top. As the two are confused, Albert nervously laughs as he says: "Sorry about that… We accidentally tripped and fell on this door. We'll quickly get this fixed." The two brothers start to laugh as well as they get up and leave the room. This causes Charlie to laugh as Ashley is confused.

After that, Ashley takes her leave as Charlie returns to his room to take off the suit that he was given since he still has to take care of some chores. After putting on his usual clothing, he heads into the kitchen to take care of the dishes. After Charlie finishes with the first set of dishes, Albert enters the room as he says: "Charlie!" Charlie then looks at Albert and says: "Yes, Father?" Albert then makes his way to Charlie as he says: "I want you to set up a reception that we will be having tomorrow." And as Charlie says: "A reception? For who?" Albert then says: "Why, for the Ambassador's daughter, Ashley. And it will be your opportunity to propose to Ashley at the reception." This shocks Charlie as he says: "Huh?!" Albert then says: "You should be quite lucky, Charlie. You get to live in a royal place where servants would take care of you. There's literally no disadvantage for you " It was at this point, Charlie knew that her mother would never allow anyone to marry him without his consent. So Charlie ends up saying: "Hold on. That can't be true." But Albert then says: "It was not by my choice to arrange the marriage. It was your mother that chose you to wed Ashley." Charlie then asks: "But how did this happen?" Albert then explains: "It was explained in the letter that we got." As Charlie says: "No…" Albert then says: "I do not want to criticize my lovely wife and your dear mother… But it appears that she only has you in her mind. Had she chosen Alex, I would have understood completely since he is the oldest son in our family."

But it was at that point, Charlie has had enough as he knows for certain that his mother would not put him up for marriage as he says: "That's not true!" This angers Albert as he says: "What?" Charlie then says: "There's no way my mother would force me to marry someone against my will!" This causes Albert to say: "You insolent brat. How dare you accuse me of telling lies." But when Albert sees Charlie not backing down, he proceeds to sigh as he says: "I can understand your frustration, Charlie…" As Charlie was surprised, Albert says: "After all… Even though I made you do all of those chores… I wanted to make you into a proper gentleman than my other two sons…" As Charlie sees Albert looking sad, Charlie starts to get sad as he says: "I… I'm sorry…" Albert then says: "If you mean what you say… Then, please… Marry Ashley…" But Charlie then says: "But… I'm not ready…" Albert then says: "There's something else that you need to know, Charlie. It was Duchess Emily's choice to have you and Ashley be wedded together. And if they find out that you did not get married to her, the Ambassador will get mad and would ruin your mother's reputation. And if possible, your mother could lose your job that she has worked so hard for. So, please… For my wife and your mother's sake, please… Marry Ashley…"

After the whole confrontation, Charlie is busy putting up the tablecloth on the wire with the help of Zeus and Jen. Even though Charlie has decided to agree to run the reception, he still doesn't want to marry Ashley. But despite that, he is struggling with how to get out of the situation he has and still has her mother keep her job. Albert then goes up to Charlie as he says: "Charlie! Are you finished with the preparations yet?! And why haven't you invited the main guest of honour?! If we're going to have a reception, we need to have the main guest of honour here! Go over and invite her now!" Even though Charlie doesn't want to marry Ashley, he knows he has no choice as he then says: "Yes… Father…" Albert then says: "And don't dilly dally like you usually do! And you still need to prepare the food for the guest and prepare the plates, Charlie! And I need to go get changed!" As Albert heads inside, both Zeus and Jen are mad at Albert's selfish requests, while Charlie seriously wonders how he'll get out of this mess.

In the town. Alex and Max enter a tailor shop as they shop for new suits. Even though they would normally go for the best suits they can find, today… They will have to find some suits that tell the guest that they're best man for Charlie. As Max struggles to find the suit, Alex says: "Remember, Max. We need to make sure that Charlie is the star, not us." And Max replied: "I know." Max then sees a suit and proceeds to grab it and says: "How's this?" Max then shows Alex the suit as Alex says: "Good enough." Alex then finds a suit and says: "This should be good." But Max sees Alex grabbing a fabulous suit as Max says: "Hold on, Alex. That suit is too fabulous. Remember? We need to make sure that…" But suddenly, Max notices a Gardevoir with a pouch as the Gardevoir eats a berry. Max then says: "Huh… Wasn't that…" This confuses Alex as he says: "What are you talking about, Max?" Max then points out the window as he says: "I think I saw Charlie's friend…" Alex then looks out the window as he says: "Really?" And Max says: "Yeah… I believe so… Should we tell her that Charlie is getting married?" And Alex says: "Well… I don't see the harm in it…"

Alex and Max manage to catch up to Maria and explain the events that had happened earlier, minus the detail about the letter they received. But when Maria hears the part that Charlie is getting married, Maria is shocked as she says: "Eh?! Charlie is getting married?!" Max then says: "Yeah. And they're going to announce it at the reception at our house tomorrow." Alex then says: "Yeah. We were surprised that he wasn't going to marry you. But I guess Charlie prefers to announce his engagement with the Ambassador's daughter tomorrow." This causes Maria to say: "I don't… I don't believe it…" Max then says: "Hey. If you don't believe it, then come to the reception tomorrow." Alex then says: "Don't worry. I'm sure that you will be entertained at our home." This causes Maria to be suspicious since she knew Charlie wouldn't fall for someone he doesn't love. And the last time she knew, Charlie never mentioned anything about the Ambassador's daughter at all.

After Charlie has taken care of the stuff and put his suit back on, he makes his way over to Dan's house since Charlie heard that Ashley is staying at Dan's place for now. As Charlie waits, he hears the door opening and sees Dan entering the room as Dan says: "Hello, Charlie." As Charlie says: "Hello, Dan." Dan then says: "Ashley is out now, but she should be back soon. In the meantime, why don't we discuss over some tea?" Charlie agrees as the two have their tea as Charlie describes the reception they're having. This causes Dan to say: "So, you decided to marry Ashley, right?" Charlie then nervously says: "I'm not sure… I'm mean… She's a nice girl…" But Dan then proceeds to say: "Yeah. Ashley is such a remarkable girl." Charlie then says: "I know. I have nothing against her… It's just that…" But Dan understands where Charlie is coming from as he says: "I can understand. You don't want to marry someone against your will, right?" Charlie nodded as he said: "Yeah. If I'm going to marry someone. I need to make sure that it's with someone that I'm in love with." Dan then says: "I agree with that." As Charlie looks surprised, Dan then says: "I have to put up with a lot of things just so I can be with the princess. But now, it will be my decision to choose who I shall marry." Charlie is really surprised as he says: "Really…" Dan then says: "While back then, I was led to believe that the princess would love me… But when I have time to think to myself, I discover that it was my mother that was pushing me to marry the princess. She's more focused on her honour and her title that she barely has any time for me and how I feel. I'm just sick of it." As Dan stands up and stares at the window, he notices a carriage heading towards home as he says: "It looks like Ashley has returned home." As Charlie stands up and looks out, he sees the carriage stopping and Ashley exiting the carriage. Dan then says: "I'll leave her in your hand, Charlie."

At Dan's garden. Charlie and Ashley are staring at a glorious fountain as Ashley says: "When we were young, we used to come to this fountain and play a lot." Charlie then says: "Yeah, I can see. It's gorgeous…" Charlie then notices that Ashley has a small boat-like leaf in her hand as he says: "Is that a boat?" Ashley replied: "Yes. Dan taught me how to make one." Ashley then places the leaf boat on the fountain water as it floats away as she says: "We would make these and have races on them. And we both dream of going into the open sea and exploring the world on a real ship. I wanted to see what the other region would look like and what the other people are like. Don't you agree?" Charlie understands her wishes as he says: "Yeah, I do…" But when Charlie looked back at the fountain, he saw someone familiar. And that is Maria as she looks at the two and says: "Hello there, Charlie." This surprises Charlie as he says: "Oh! Hello, Maria." Hearing that has also surprised Ashley as she says: "Maria? As in Princess Maria?" But Charlie says: "No, no… She's actually Maria Flowers, or Maria the Liar. She's my great friend." As Ashley says: "I see…" Maria stands up as she nervously laughs as she says: "Yeah. It's nice to meet the two of you." Though at this point, Charlie notices that he hasn't used the name Maria the Liar in a long time.

On the day of the reception, the guests that Albert, Alex and Max invited are enjoying themselves, alongside Dan and Ashley. As they enjoy themselves, Albert is having a lovely conversation with one of the guests. But as he chats, he quickly notices that among the guests, he spotted Maria. And what's worst for Albert is that she is enjoying herself with Charlie as Albert says: "Maria? Why is she here? She always brings trouble." Albert then spots Alex and Max as he heads over to them and says: "Who invited this girl?" Alex looks at his father and says: "We did." Max then says: "Is it that bad, father?" Albert then says: "Of course it is. If Maria gets too comfortable with Charlie, then he'll never announce his engagement to Ashley. And if that happened, one of you two will have to replace him as Ashley's fiance." Realizing the error that the two brothers have made, Max says: "W-Well in that case, why don't we keep Charlie's friend busy?" But Albert says: "Don't bother. She'll catch on to you and your chance to marry the princess would vanish. So leave this to me." Albert then makes his way to the two as Alex and Max watch.

Charlie and Maria are enjoying their time together as Maria tells Charlie a story, which Charlie wonders if what Maria is saying is true. But then they heard Albert saying: "Welcome to our lovely reception, miss." Maria then says: "Thank you, sir. I must say that it's quite splendid." Albert then put his plan into action as he says: "If you want, we can have a lovely discussion over at the buffet station." But Maria knows of Albert's trick as she says: "I appreciate the offer. But I feel like I couldn't eat another bite." This upsets Albert as not only did he never have someone reject his offer, but also knew that this won't be as simple as he thought. Albert then changes tactics as he says: "I see… In that case, how about a lovely walk to our garden. It's quite beautiful when you see it." Maria then says: "I see. That sounds lovely." Maria then looks at Charlie and says: "Would you like to come to the garden with me?" And Charlie replied: "Of course, Maria. Let's go." Charlie then proceeds to escort Maria outside as Albert says: "Wait a minute. I was actually talking about just the two of us. And Charlie, I need you-" But one of the guests walks up to him and says: "Would you like to enjoy some wine with us, Duch?" And as Albert says: "Not right now." The other guests start swarming Albert and start to chat with him as Albert sees the two heading outside. This angers Albert as his chance to separate the two is gone.

Outside. Maria sniffs the flowers on the bush as she says: "Well, he is right about one thing. They are beautiful." Charlie then says: "Thank you for the save, Maria." As Maria looks at Charlie with a confused look, Charlie says: "My father expects me to announce the wedding, but I can't push myself to do it. So I figure that if I stay outside until the party's over, then I won't have to worry about the announcement." Maria then says: "You say that, yet I see a much better solution to your problem." As Charlie wonders what Maria means, Maria says: "Take a look at Dan and Ashley, over there." As Charlie looks, he sees the two together as Maria then says: "Haven't you noticed that they have been together since the start of the party? Don't you think that they deserve to be together?" Charlie then realizes what Maria is talking about as Charlie says: "Now that you mention it… I do remember seeing Ashley smiling whenever she mentions Dan. And Dan ever talks about good things about Ashley. They even mention that they were childhood friends and that they used to hang around. It seems like they really do belong together." Maria then says: "So it took you that long to notice? I know that they belong together the moment I saw them together." This causes Charlie to look at Maria and says: "Hey, give me a break." Maria then starts to laugh as Charlie feels embarrassed. Nearby, Albert is watching the two together as he says: "No… They're getting too close. At this rate, he will never announce his engagement with Ashley. I need to do something and fast."

While the party is going on, Zeus and Jen are getting bored from the party as they head to the side of the building so they can find some shade. As they head to the shade, Ruby looks at the two as she remembers the time the two save them from the fire. Ruby then looks at the letter that Albert left on the table as Ruby thinks to herself if it's a good idea to let the two know. Once Zeus and Jen find some shade, they proceed to relax in the shade. But then suddenly, they spotted some paper landing on the ground. Curious, they look up to see who it was. But they end up finding nothing. Curious about the paper that fell onto the ground, Zeus and Jen goes over and looks at it. As they examine the paper, they quickly realize that it's actually a letter. And as the two examine the letter, they quickly realize what Albert is planning and they need to warn Charlie. As Zeus grabs the letter and the two hurry over to find Charlie. Ruby, on the other hand, watches the two go as she knew she owed them one but she knew that they won't expect her help again.

Maria wasn't expecting to foil Emily's plan to get Dan to marry her, but she knew that Dan and Ashley were meant to be together. And if she can get Charlie to help her, then she can make sure that the two would get engaged. So Maria says: "I could use your help in getting the two engaged if you want." Charlie then says: "Of course I would help. But I do worry about what my father would say…" Before Maria could say something, they hear Zeus barking as the two looks and sees both Zeus and Jen heading towards them. As they reach the two, Charlie notices the letter in Zeus's mouth as he asks: "What do you have here?" As Charlie grabs the letter from Zeus, the two proceed to read the letter as Charlie says: "Hang on. This is the letter from my mother." But then Charlie and Maria notice some details on the letter that surprises Charlie, Maria says: "It looks like your mother wanted Alex to marry Ashley, not you Charlie." Maria then notices another important detail in the letter, which Maria gets an idea as she says: "And with this letter. We can use this to our advantage."

Inside. The guests are enjoying the party when Albert stands on a stool and claps his hands to gather the guests' attention as he says: "My dear fellow guests." As the guests focus on Albert, Albert then says: "As you know. This reception has a very important purpose today." As the guests wonder what it is, Albert then says: "You see. We have an amidst a new couple who are ready to announce their engagement together and start a new life together." As the guests are surprised to hear the announcement as Albert then says: "In fact… You can find our brand new couple over there." The guests then look over and see Dan, Ashley, Charlie and Maria as one of the guests says: "It must be these two." As the others chat with each other about the engagement happening, Albert then says: "Now… Let's give our new couple a round of applause as we wish for their new future together." The guests start to clap for the new couple as Charlie and Maria look at each other as they enact their plan. Charlie and Maria then step aside and start to clap as they say: "Congratulations, Dan and Ashley." As Dan and Ashley are confused, the guests cheer for the two as Albert sees them and says: "What… Dan and Ashley… H-Hold on… That's not…" But his words fell on deaf ears as the guests continued to cheer for Dan and Ashley. As Dan and Ashley look at each other, Charlie and Maria say: "Congratulations." Dan starts to blush with Ashley as Ashley says: "I never knew that… You would have feelings for me… And… I'm grateful…" Dan then says: "To be honest… I'm glad that you feel like that… But I was worried that my mother would forbid our relationship and force me to never see you again." But Ashley grabs Dan's hands as she says: "So was I… But Charlie has helped us get together. We would never be apart again." Dan smiles as the two embraces each other, which touches Charlie's heart. Albert on the other hand tries to say: "H-Hold on! That's not the couple that I'm talking about!" But the guests start to surround Dan and Ashley as Albert then says: "No! Wait! Please listen to me! That's not what-" But his words goes ignored as he knew that no one is listening to him as Alex and Max go to comfort him.

After the reception. Dan and Ashley grab their stuff as they head to a small rowboat. After Dan gets on the boat, he catches Ashley as she steps into the boat. As the two are excited about their wedding and their future, Dan knows that this would probably be the last time he'll get to see his mother again. But he knows that he will make the right choice by marrying Ashley and he hopes that his mother will understand. "Dan! Ashley!" Charlie says as he reaches the bridge. The two notice Charlie as the two says: "Charlie." As the rower proceeds to row the rowboat as Dan and Ashley wave goodbye to Charlie as Charlie waves back to them. As Charlie sees them further and further away, he knows that the two will have an amazing future together. Meanwhile. Emily has finally returned to her home, after dealing with some last-minute business. As she enters the room and pours herself a glass of wine, she believes that her plan is successful and that Alex is now on his way to be married to Ashley. As she places the wine down and picks up the glass, she hears a knock on the door as Emily says: "Come in." Emily then sits down as one of her servants enters the room as the servant says: "Duchess… I have terrible news. Your son is getting engaged with Ashley." "What?!" Emily says as she drops her glass on the floor as she stands up and says: "Are you sure?! You saw Dan with Ashley?!" The servant says: "Yes, Duchess. He just left with her after the reception." This causes Emily to get furious as she says: "Well what are you waiting for?! Go out there and bring him back here, now!" But the servant then said: "But Miss, they're gone!" This has made Emily's original plan impossible to perform since her son is getting engaged with Ashley.

Back at the Lestorm's house. Charlie is reading a letter from Dan and Ashley as it reads: [Dear Charlie. I want to thank you for giving us a chance to be together. We are currently travelling through the sea as we will get to see the amazing views from outside our region. I hope that you will get to have the same happiness as we did. From your friend, Dan.] Charlie is glad that the two are getting along together as Zeus and Jen are happy for the two. Just as the three are hoping for the future, they heard Albert saying: "Charlie! Get over here, now!" Charlie then sees Albert as he stands up and puts away the letter, before proceeding to go to Albert. Albert then passes Charlie with the broom as he says: "The entryway is still dusty, so I want you to go and sweep it up. And since you blow your opportunity to marry the Ambassador's daughter, you will still have to do a lot more chores." Charlie then nods as he says: "Of course, father. I'll get it done right away." As Albert heads inside, both Zeus and Jen are starting to get mad at Albert for his selfish attitude. But Charlie looks at the two and says: "Don't worry guys. At least I didn't let him trick me into marrying the wrong person."


	21. Memory of a loving Father

**Memory of a loving Father**

As the sun shines over the Lestorm's house, Charlie is busy sweeping the floor as he listens to the lullaby from his Ralts doll. While he knows that it was his late father that bought him the antique Ralts doll, he regrets not having many memories of his late father since he perished when he was very young. But what he does remember is how kind and strong-hearted he is. Though that still doesn't change the fact that he has been with his only mother for the longest time until she met Albert and had their last name changed. As Charlie finishes cleaning the floor of the attic, he goes over to his closet to put away the broom. But the closet doors won't open as the doors get jammed. This forces Charlie to put down the broom and tries pulling on the two handles to get the door unjammed. As he pulls on the door, he hears someone sawing something, which catches Charlie's attention. As Charlie wonders what's going on, Zeus bursts into his room with a scared reaction on his face.

Outside. Cesar is cutting down one of the branches under Albert's orders as Albert is having a blistering headache today. As Cesar cuts the branch off, the branch falls to the ground as Albert says: "Excellent work, Cesar. Now cut that branch off over there." Even though Cesar doesn't want to, he knows what will happen if he refuses as he says: "Yes, sir..." As Cesar starts cutting another branch on the tree, Charlie and Zeus head over to where Jen is as she is resting on the grass near the tree. Wondering what's going on, Charlie looks at Jen and says: "What's wrong? Is the tree sick?" But Jen shakes her head as they hear Albert then says: "And make sure that you cut that other branch while you're at it." And as Charlie looks at the tree and sees Cesar with the saw as he says: "Yes sir…" Charlie says: "Cesar? What's going on?" Cesar then looks at Charlie and says: "O-Oh… Hello Charlie…" Charlie then looks at Albert and says: "Father. Why are you cutting down the tree?" And Albert replied: "Because I have a blistering headache and I need sunlight to calm it down. And I can't do that with the branches blocking the light, so I'm having Cesar cut it down." Albert then looks at Cesar and says: "Now hurry it up, Cesar!" Cesar then proceeds to continue cutting the branches as Charlie watches.

Once the job is done, Charlie sees that most of the branches have been cut down from the tree. Albert then proceeds to say: "Good. Now I can get as much sunlight as I want." Albert then looks down at both Charlie and Cesar as he says: "Excellent work, Cesar. You can return to your duties." Cesar then says: "Yes sir…" Albert then proceeds to say: "Charlie. I want you to bring the branches over and cut them down to wood, we'll use them for the fireplace." This causes Charlie to say: "Yes, father." As Albert leaves from the window, Cesar says: "That man knows no fury…" Cesar then looks at the tree as he then says: "It's such a shame… This tree is truly a masterpiece of nature. This is quite a favourite tree of his when I used to work for him." Charlie is surprised as he says: "You knew my late father?" Cesar then looks at Charlie and says: "Of course. Your father would always bring you here to this tree so the two of you can play around, except when it rains." It was at that moment, Charlie recalls the memory of him and his father playing together with the tree as Charlie then says: "Now I remember. My father has this contagious laugh." Cesar then says: "Yes he did. And now, you look like him when he was a young boy. And to think that I have to cut down his favourite tree…" Charlie then says: "Don't feel sad, Cesar. He doesn't know the memories that my father has. But what's done is done and all we can do now is to move forward." Cesar then nodded as he says: "Right." As Cesar picks up the tools and heads to the shed to put them away, Charlie walks up to the tree and places his hand on it as he remembers the times he has with his late father.

Ruby is watching Charlie through a window as she is quite angry that Charlie is able to scrape through the days without anything bad happening to him. And what's worse for her is that Jen won't even go and make Charlie's life bad for him, since she became friends with him. Even though she did help Charlie out earlier, it was due to Jen and Zeus helping her as it was a one time deal. Cause at this point forward, she will do everything she can to make Charlie miserable. And to do that, Ruby proceeds to head down to the kitchen and through the servant's entrance as she sees Charlie. She figures that if Albert spotted Charlie chasing her instead of doing his work, Albert will be mad at him and will punish him, regardless of how it happened. Confident that her plan is going to work, Ruby proceeds to get a good running start before proceeding to jump on top of Charlie's head. As Charlie stumbles forward and hits his head on the tree, Ruby proceeds to land on the ground as she looks and sees Charlie recovering from the bump from his head as he stares at her. Knowing that her plan would work, Charlie proceeds to chase Ruby as he says: "Get back here, you bad cat. I'll teach you some manners."

Meanwhile, Albert's headache hasn't recovered as he figures that going outside would help clear his head from the headache. But as he leaves his room and heads down the hall, he is spotted by Alex and Max as Alex says: "Oh, good timing father." As Alex and Max join Albert as they head down the hall, Alex says: "There's a concert happening and I was wondering if I could go into town and get some new suits?" And as the three make it to the stairs, Albert says: "No, you may not." As they head downstairs, Max says: "Have you heard how Richard Comingworth is bragging about how he's an excellent rider, ever since they've got him a Rapidash?" And Albert replied: "Well good for him." As they reach the bottom of the stairs, Alex says: "Well, can I least take that new suit that you bought for me?" As Albert made his way through the kitchen and out of the servant's entrance, Albert replied: "No, you may not. I bought you that suit for when we get invited to the castle." Max then says: "Father, I've spotted a Galarian Rapidash at the stables and I was wondering if I can have it?" Alex then says: "Yeah, we can share the Glaarian Rapidash, Father." And as the two continue to pester him, Albert's headache has gotten even worse. And even though Albert wants to make sure that his sons are at their best, even he has his limits as he turns around and says: "Listen you two! Now is not a good time to-" But suddenly, Albert clenches his head as he walks backwards as both Alex and Max say: "Father?" As Albert stumbles backwards, he ends up tripping on a branch that was chopped earlier as he falls backwards. And as he crashes on the branch, both Alex and Max get scared as Alex says: "Father! Are you okay, Father?!" Max then shouted out: "Charlie! Get over here, now! We need your help!"

After that terrible incident, Charlie brought Albert to his room as Cesar fetched a doctor for them. As the doctor tends to Albert, Charlie, Cesar, Alex and Max are worried if he's going to be okay. Zeus, Jen and Ruby, on the other hand, are looking through the open door as while Zeus and Jen are worried for him, Ruby is feeling guilty since her mind is focused on making Charlie look bad that she failed to notice Albert's terrible headache. In the room, Max says: "Why didn't you go and pick those branches up, Charlie?!" And as Charlie says: "W-Well… I…" The doctor proceeds to say: "It's not anyone's fault. It's just that he has suffered a terrible illness from the head down. The branches weren't the cause of it and I'm afraid that this illness is quite serious." This causes Alex to say: "B-But… You can cure him… Right… You can save father… Right… Surely he can be cured… Right...?" Max then proceeds to say: "Please… Father… Wake up… Wake up…" And as Charlie sees the two brothers in despair, he fears what would happen if Albert doesn't pull through.

As the night skies shine on, Charlie places a blanket on both Alex and Max as the two are asleep from their worries. And as Cesar hands the doctor a cup of tea, Charlie looks at his father as he hopes that there are some improvements in his health. But as Cesar says: "Well, doctor?" The doctor lowered his head as he said: "I'm afraid… There haven't been any improvements at all…" Not wanting to hear that, Charlie looks at the doctor and says: "Please, doctor. Is there any way that you can do to save him?" The doctor then proceeds to say: "Believe me, Charlie. That is what I'm trying to do. But… In order to do that, I will need to administer the scorn of the earth herb." As Charlie says: "Scorn of the earth?" The doctor then says: "Yes. It's a very rare herb that can cure him of the disease. Unfortunately, the only known place to find it is beyond the city of Espérer, to the forest from the north. But there's a legend that says that there are spirits in the forest that are protecting the herbs. Many have gone and tried to harvest it, but only a few have ever made it back sane. It'll be a great risk for those that dare enter the forest." Charlie then looks at his father and it was at this point that Charlie knew what to do. He then looks at the doctor and says: "In that case, I will go to that forest and fetch the herbs for my father." Hearing that has caused Cesar and the doctor to be shocked by Charlie's words.

As Charlie put on a cloak to cover his body as he heads downstairs. After Cesar got the carriage ready with the two Zebstrikas, Charlie exits the house as Cesar says: "Please, Charlie. Let me go and get the herbs for you. I don't want anything bad happening to you." Charlie then says: "I can't let you do that, Cesar. You need to be here with Alex and Max." As Charlie places a basket full of supplies in the carriage, Cesar tries to say: "But… Charlie…" Charlie then looks at Cesar as he says: "I'll be fine, Cesar. Besides, I'm sure that the spirits won't do anything to me." Cesar then thinks to himself for a moment, before proceeding to say: "Alright then. But promise me that you'll make it back here in one piece." Charlie nodded as he said: "I will, Cesar." Nearby. Zeus and Jen are watching Charlie as they wonder if he'll be okay. Ruby, on the other hand, is believing that Charlie is only saying this so that he can head to the pub and brag about her master is sick and how he'll replace him. But Jen reassures Ruby that once Charlie's mind is on something, there's nothing they can do to change it. But Ruby says that how can they be sure since he's going out there alone. Zeus then says that while she's wrong about Charlie, she does bring up a good point that he could be in danger. Both Jen and Zeus then notices something and starts to smile as Ruby wonders where they're looking at until she turns and spots Cinder as she was standing next to them. As Ruby is surprised by her appearance, Cinder looks at them as both Zeus and Jen have an idea on how she can help Charlie.

Once Charlie gets on the carriage, Cesar proceeds to say: "Be careful on your journey, Charlie." Charlie nods as he says: "Of course, Cesar. I'll leave the rest to you." Charlie then proceeds to drive the carriage down the path as he makes his way to the forest. As he drives the carriage, he spotted Cinder to the side of the path as she says: "Hello, Charlie. Mind if I join you?" This surprises Charlie as he says: "Cinder." After Charlie lets Cinder on the carriage, the two head out as Charlie explains his situation to her. Once she hears that, Cinder then says: "Are you sure about this, Charlie? After all, the forest is not exactly a safe place for anyone." But Charlie then says: "But what else am I supposed to do? I need to get those herbs for my father." Cinder then says: "But aren't you at least afraid of what lies ahead?" And Charlie says: "As much as the possibilities of the forest being scary is a bit scary for me, but if I let my father die because of me, I'll never be able to live with myself." And it was at that point that Cinder understands Charlie's determination as she says: "I see that your mind's made up. In that case, I'll help you out on your quest." This surprises Charlie as he says: "Really?!" Cinder then says: "Of course. But it appears though that we are not the only ones on this quest." And as Charlie is confused as he says: "Huh? What do you mean?" Cinder secretly casts a spell from behind her back, which causes Ruby to appear inside the carriage. And as Cinder and Charlie look inside the carriage, Charlie spotted Ruby as he says: "Ruby. You want to join us?" As Ruby is more confused over how she's got here, Charlie faces forwards as he says: "With the two of you here, I know we can get there in time." The three then head forwards on their carriage as they head to the forest.

As the sun shines over. The three continue on the path to the forest in their carriage as Cinder remembers something as she says: "You know… I remember the first time I've met both your mother and father. I believe I was giving her painting lessons over at the forest that's not too far from your home." This surprises Charlie as he says: "My mother could paint?" Cinder then says: "Yes. Though, we spent more time chatting than we did painting. But we did have a lot of fun together." As Charlie is amazed to hear some amazing details about his mother, Cinder proceeds to look at the sky as she then says: "Now your father… He was quite special. His appearance would have gotten your mother a smile every time. He would also have the eyes of a prince who is willing to protect the people that he's loved." Hearing Cinder's words have caused Charlie to remember the times that he has with his late father.

It was a long time ago that in the forest park, the maidens are having a good time as Cinder and Nancy are doing their usual art lesson. It was then that Charlie's father walked up to the two as the two smiled and giggled when he's around. Yes, his father was around to keep Charlie occupied throughout the few years they had. And even though Nancy is happy to have Charlie's father around, Charlie is very happy with him around as he remembers the moment when he saw snow for the first time, the time the two have fun on the hill of flowers and the time they enjoy getting splash with water as Cesar was having a day off. Yes, those moments are what makes him happy and now that he remembers then, he will always cherish them in his heart and soul. And once his mother returns from her trip, hopefully, he'll get the chance to talk to her about his late father.

Cinder then says: "He is quite a sight to behold. But one day, I was asked to come to meet him alone in the forest. And what he has to say has really surprised me." As Charlie is wondering what Cinder is talking about, Cinder then explains: "Your father has asked me to keep an eye on you and your mother if something were to happen to him. And while I was confused by his words at the time, I agreed to his request. And the moment he thanked me and saw the smile on his face, it made me realize that he must be gravely ill and he wanted to make sure that you were never alone. And it was the promise that I made to your father that I help keep an eye on you and help you when you are needed the most, Charlie." Charlie was surprised not only by her words but also how she was always with him since he lost his father. It has really touched his heart as he says: "Thank you, Cinder… I mean it…"

Just as Cinder is glad to hear such kind words from Charlie, Ruby feels a disturbing force nearby as it catches both Charlie and Cinder's attention as they look forward and discovers the forest that they're looking for. And said forest has a terrifying aurora with spike vines around the trees. It was then that Cinder said: "This must be the forest. And we're getting close to it. Are you sure that you want to go through with it?" Charlie is still determined to save his father as he says: "Yes." Cinder then proceeds to say: "Remember. Once we enter this forest, we will be faced with some terrifying sights. But no matter what happens, we must always go forwards. We can't let anything stop us." Charlie nodded as he said: "Got it." And as the three get closer to the forest, Ruby is getting real scared as she wasn't expecting to be brought to this terrifying forest in the first place.

Once they enter the forest, the dirt ground that they've been riding on has changed to hard vines that cause the carriage to bump. And if that wasn't enough the air suddenly became freezing cold, forcing them to shiver up. They then hear an eerie sound that doesn't sound like it came from either human or Pokemon. And before they could progress what's going on, they felt the place shaking as Cinder says: "It looks like the spirits have spotted us." Even though all of this was going on, Charlie continues to go forward. Unfortunately, the two Zebstrikas started to freak out, which forces Charlie to say: "Calm down, you two. I'm sure that everything's fine." As Charlie tries to calm the two Zebstrikas, Ruby looks at Cinder and sees if she can do anything to stop this, but Cinder whispers to Ruby: "I can't do anything. If I did, it'll only make the spirits restless. And when that happens, they will make sure that we would never get the medicine." This shocks Ruby as the carriage suddenly stops. The two then look at Charlie as he says: "I'm sorry, but the two are too terrified to move." This causes Cinder to say: "I see… Then we have no other choice but to go on foot." Hearing that has shaken Ruby.

The three then continue on foot as the eerie sound continues to haunt them. As they continue forward, Cinder says: "Be prepared for everything they throw at you." Before Charlie could say something, they felt the ground shaking as a terrifying voice shouts: "**WHO ARE YOU?! ANOTHER TRESPASSER LOOKING TO TAINT THIS SACRED PLACE?!**" As Charle feels the tension down his spine, he looks over to Cinder and Ruby as Cinder says: "It's okay. We're fine. Just keep going." Seeing them safe, Charlie nods as he takes a step forward. Unfortunately, the vines turn to mud as it starts to drag Charlie down. Ruby and Cinder also sink down from the mud as Ruby starts to panic as she wants to go home. They then heard: "**THIS IS THE FATE FOR ALL THOSE THAT DARED TAINT THIS SACRED PLACE!**" But this causes Charlie to say: "That's not true. I only came here to help someone with some of your herbs." Charlie then takes a step forward, which results in the mud vanishing as it turns out to be an illusion.

But then a fierce wind happened as it blew at Charlie, Cinder and Ruby. And as Charlie covers himself, Cinder and Ruby get blown away as the voice says: "**LIES! YOU LIE! YOU ONLY INTEND TO TAIN THIS SACRED PLACE!**" But Cinder then proceeds to say: "Charlie! Keep going!" And as the voice says: "**GET OUT! I WILL NEVER LET YOU TAINT THIS SACRED PLACE!**" Charlie proceeds to say: "I'm not leaving until I can get the scorn of the earth herbs." This causes the voice to say: "**THEN YOU WILL SUFFER!**" Despite that, Charlie continues to push forward as the voice then says: "**YOU WILL SUFFER LIKE ALL THOSE THAT DARES TO TAINT THIS SACRED PLACE!**" And as Charlie replied: "That is not true. I only came here for some herbs." The voice then says: "**LIES!**" Just as the winds died down, the ground begins to break apart as Charlie is suddenly grabbed by a large hand from a terrifying beast as it lifts him in the air. This also scares both Cinder and Ruby as the voice then says: "**WHY WOULD YOU COME ALL THIS WAY FOR OUR HERBS?!**"

Even though the beast is squeezing the life out of Charlie, he proceeds to say: "I need your herbs so that I can heal my step-father from a terrible illness." This causes the voice to say: "**THAT MAN… WHY WOULD YOU GO OUT OF YOUR WAY FOR SOMEONE WHO DESTROYS THINGS IN HIS WAY?!**" Even though Charlie was shocked to hear such words, the voice then says: "**NOT ONLY DID HE TOOK YOUR NOBLEMAN'S LIFE, BUT ALSO FORCE YOU TO BE HIS SLAVE FOR HIS SELFISH NEEDS AND HIS CORRUPTED SONS! WHY WOULD YOU FORCE YOURSELF TO SUFFER FOR THEIR SELFISH NEEDS?!**" Ruby was getting angry for whoever it was that called her master selfish, but Cinder says: "Wait." Charlie then proceeds to say: "Because he has two sons that need him. I know that he may be harsh, but who am I to take someone they care for away. I'll be nothing more than someone that I don't want to be." This causes the beast to loosen his grip on Charlie as it sinks back to the ground. As the hand lets Charlie go as he lands on the ground, Charlie proceeds to stand up as the voice says: "**IT LOOKS LIKE YOU DO NOT INTEND TO TAINT THIS SACRED PLACE..**" Charlie then sees a light flashing down as it shines on the tree that's covered in herbs as the voice says: "**IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE HERBS. THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN FIND THEM… HOWEVER… YOUR RESOLVE WILL BE TESTED!**" This causes the ground that separates Charlie and the tree to break and shrink down as it reveals spikes from down below. Just then, a thin line appears from where Charlie is to the tree as the voice then says: "**CROSS THROUGH THE LINE AND I'LL KNOW YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH. FALL AND YOUR FATE IS SEALED.**" As Ruby is now worried about Charlie's safety, Charlie takes a deep breath as he controls his thought, before proceeding to say: "Okay. Here we go."

Charlie then proceeds to take his first step on the thin line as he begins to walk across the line. Ruby wanted to go after him and stop him, but Cinder stops her as she says: "Don't, Ruby. This is something Charlie has to do on his own." Charlie continues to walk across the line until he accidentally missteps as he slips down. While this scares both Cinder and Ruby, Charlie manages to catch the line with his hand. Once he is able to get back up on the line, he resumes walking the thin line towards the tree. Father… It was at that point that he remembers something important from the past. Back when he was a very young boy, he was having fun with a Poochyena named Zeus when he saw a bunch of doctors bursting into their homes. While Charlie was confused, he then saw his mother in disarray as she rushed down the hall and into the master bedroom. As Charlie recalls, he was too young to do anything to save his father. But now he has a chance to save a father that married his mother. He knew that if he falls, he'll never save him. Once Charlie believes he is close, he makes a leap for it as the line breaks apart. This causes Cinder to shout out: "Charlie!" While Ruby is terrified of what happens to Charlie as the line vanishes.

But despite all that, Charlie manages to make it to the other side of the line as he landed on the ground near the tree. As he stands up, he looks at Cinder and Ruby as he says: "Ruby. Cinder. I've made it." As Cinder is surprised, the ground that separates them starts to fade away. Ruby was surprised that he is willing to go that far for someone who treats him badly. It was at this point that Ruby understands why Zeus and Jen care for him. And as the ground returns to a more peaceful view, Ruby proceeds to run towards Charlie and jump on him. Ruby then immediately proceeds to lick Charlie in the face as he starts to laugh as he says: "H-Hey… That tickles…" Cinder starts to smile as she walks up to the two. "Charlie… I'm proud of you..." Said a mysterious voice, which catches Charlie, Ruby and Cinder's attention. And when they looked, they were surprised and astonished to see the spirit of Charlie's late father as he says: "I know that I wasn't around when you were growing up. But I am glad to see that you are becoming a true gentleman…" This surprises Charlie as he says: "Father…" Charlie's father then says: "Charlie… Remember to never lose your hope…" And as the spirit of Charlie's father fades, Charlie stands up as he says: "I won't, Father… And thank you… Thank you for meeting me again…" Cinder then walks up to Charlie and says: "Come on. Let's bring these herbs back home." Charlie then looks at Cinder as he says: "Right."

After Charlie harvested enough herbs to make the medicine, the three hurry as they return home with the herbs. As they reach their home and Cinder takes her leave, Charlie brings over the herbs to the doctor as he quickly makes a batch of medicine in a teacup. As Cesar, Charlie and the brothers watch, the doctor proceeds to pour the medicine onto the spoon and slips it into Albert's mouth. As they wait for the results, they quickly see Albert's eyes opening as Alex says: "Look. His eyes are opening." And Max says: "Father…" The doctor then proceeds to ask: "Hello, Duch. How are you feeling?" Albert thinks to himself for a while, before proceeding to say: "Well… I guess you can say I had a dream where the spirits of the forest came to haunt me." While Charlie is surprised to hear that, both Alex and Max start to cry as they hug their father as they said: "Father!" Albert was confused as he said: "What are you two doing?" The doctor then smiles as he looks at Charlie as he says: "It appears that the Duch is out of danger. And it's all thanks to you." Charlie nodded as he felt relief to have saved his father. _And I was able to see my father again._

After the whole ordeal is over, Charlie resumes with his chores as Ruby, Zeus and Jen are in the kitchen as Ruby tells the two why they care for Charlie and that she will help Charlie out whenever she can. This causes Zeus and Jen to be glad that Ruby is helping out as Jen says that she hopes that they can be friends again. Ruby then proceeds to rub Jen's head as she says that of course, they can still be friends. As that was going on, Charlie enters the kitchen while carrying a stack of plates as he sees Jen and Ruby getting together. As he puts away the plates, he proceeds to say: "It's nice to see the two of you getting along." It was then that the three looked at Charlie as he was putting the last of the plates away as they then heard a voice saying: "Charlie! Charlie! I want you here right this instinct!" This catches their attention as Charlie says: "Coming." As Charlie heads out, the three are wondering what Albert is planning now.

But to the surprise of the three, they actually saw Charlie filling up a small dirt hole with a small plant while Albert was giving his two sons a lesson. Albert then proceeds to say: "And this is why we need to make sure that we must never taint nature. They will be there to protect us, so it's our job to make sure we protect them." As Alex and Max are confused, Albert notices the way Charlie is digging as he says: "Hold it. I don't want you to throw the dirt too hard. You need to let the dirt down gently, or you'll hurt the plant. Here, let me show you." As Albert takes over Charlie's job, the three wonder if Albert is still suffering from a headache or is he crazy. Once Albert manages to fill the hole properly, he proceeds to say: "There. Now I know this plant will grow up to live a healthy life." Albert then looks at the tree with the cut branches as he says: "And to think that I would cut down your precious branches for some selfish reason. I must be truly out of my mind to have suggested something like that. So I do hope that this new plant will mend the wounds that I have caused." As Albert turns around, he accidentally trips on the new plant as he falls to the ground. This causes Charlie and his brothers to say: "Father! Are you okay?!" To their surprise, Albert starts to laugh as he says: "Of course I'm fine. I've never felt better in all my life."


	22. Charlie faces Danger

**Charlie faces Danger**

In the town of Espérer. The citizens are having a market as the place is packed. Among the citizens are Charlie and Zeus as Charlie is out on a trip to gather supplies. With Jen and Ruby's friendship renewed, the two stay home so that they can hear Albert's plan and pass it to Zeus, just in case he plans something while Charlie is away. As Charlie and Zeus go through the town, they're having a hard time examining the products since the crowd is quite thick. But then, something has caught Charlie's attention as he stops and looks at one of the stands. He sees that the stand is full sweets as he says: "Whoa… Those look delicious." This catches the vendor of the stand as she goes over and says: "They catch your attention? You will be amazed by one of my best candies in the Kingdom." Charlie is interested in trying out the candies, but when he reaches for his pocket, he pulls out the only coin that he manages to have from his actual funding to purchase the necessary supplies that he needs for his family. This causes Charlie to say: "I don't think I can afford it with the budget that I have…" Upon hearing that, the vendor proceeds to take one of the candies off and place it in the bag as she passes the bag to Charlie as she says: "Here you go, this is on the house." This confuses Charlie as he says: "I can't accept something like this." But the vendor proceeds to whisper into Charlie's ear: "It's okay. This is just goodwill. And who knows. If you like it, you can send some people over." This causes Charlie to say: "I see. Thank you."

Meanwhile. The vendor of the fruit stand is busy sorting the fruits in the basket. What he doesn't know is that two people are walking up to a stand and swipes a bag full of berries from the stack of bags as the stacks of bags fall to the ground. This catches the vendor's attention as he turns around and notices a Gardevoir with a bag in her hand as she eats a berry. This angers the vendor as he runs up to her and says: "Hold it! Just what do you think you're doing!" The Gardevoir is none other than Maria as she says: "Huh? What are you talking about?" As Maria eats another berry from her sack as the vendor gets even more angry as he says: "Why you… Drop that bag now, thief!" This shocks Maria as she was falsely accused of stealing something. Meanwhile, Skarlet is looking for Maria as she says: "Honestly… The moment that I lay my eyes off her and she slips away in a matter of seconds… I should really-" But then two guys push through her as one of them says: "Hey! Watch it!" This causes Skarlet to turn around and says: "It's you two that need to watch it!" As Skarlet spots a Blaziken and a Garchomp, she then notices the Blaziken tossing a small bag to the Garchomp as the Garchomp proceeds to toss the bag at the vase stand as it breaks apart, which has shocked Skarlet.

The vendor of the vase stand was quite furious as she said: "How could you do such a thing, you ruffian?!" But the Blaziken proceeds to say: "What are you talking about? The vase fell from your shoddy stand." But Skarlet proceeds to say: "No it wasn't. You toss your bag to your accomplice as he throws the bag at the vase." This causes the two to look at Skarlet as the Garchomp says: "Who do you think you are?! You think you have what it takes to face the royal guards?!" But Skarlet proceeds to say: "You? Royal Guards? I doubt it." But the Blaziken proceeds to say: "I know we may not look like it, but we truly are the royal guards." He then lifts his vest to reveal a sword with the Kingdom's royal logo. This shocks Skarlet as she can't believe that they would have the guards' swords as she wonders if they truly are guards. The Blaziken then proceeds to say: "Now you should tell her that she should get that stand fixed." The two then proceed to walk away as they laugh, while the vase vendor says: "I can't believe that the royal kingdom would employ those thuggish men. What has this kingdom become…?" Wanting to investigate, Skarlet proceeds to hand the vendor some gold coins as she says: "Here." Skarlet then proceeds to follow the two as the vendor sees the gold coins as she is quite surprised.

Maria struggles to get out of the fruit vendor's grasp as she says: "Let me go!" But the vendor proceeds to say: "Stop struggling, you thief! If you don't stop, I'll have to call the guards!" This causes Maria to say: "I keep telling you, I'm not a thief! I had that bag since I was young, so let me go!" As Maria continues to struggle, both Charlie and Zeus move through the crowds as they wonder what's going on. And as Charlie sees Maria and the vendor and is shocked to see the display, the vendor continues to keep his grip as he says: "Stop your lying! I know it was you that stole that bag from my stand! And you're coming with me!" But Maria proceeds to say: "I-It's a misunderstanding! I didn't do it-" But the vendor accidentally steps on the fruit that's on the ground as the two fall backwards as they crash onto the fruit stand. This causes the citizens to laugh as both Maria and the vendor to get covered in fruit juices as the vendor says: "My stand…". "Maria!" Charlie says as he goes up to Maria as Maria says: "Charlie…" As the vendor looks at Charlie, Charlie picks up one of the small bags on the ground as he says: "I know that Maria has a habit of lying. But I know for sure that she hasn't stolen anything." This causes Maria to say: "Y-Yeah. You can trust his words. He has never lied before."

But the vendor proceeds to stand up as he says: "So the two of you are partners in crime!" This shocks Charlie and Maria as they stand up as the vendor then says: "Now drop that bag of berries, you thief!" Hearing that has shocked Charlie as he drops the bag of berries on the ground as the vendor gets furious as he says: "Look at what you did to my stand! Now I'm taking you to the guards myself!". As the vendor angrily walks up to them, Maria says: "Hold on! We know that we-" But the vendor says: "Save it! The two of you will rot in the dungeons for the things you did!" But then the vendor ends up stepping on a fruit as he slips back and crashes onto his stand again, destroying it in the process. As Maria sees the vendor getting even more furious, she looks at Charlie and says: "Come on!" And as Charlie was confused as he said: "Huh? What are you-" Maria grabs Charlie's hand as they fled with Zeus following them as the vendor says: "Stop!" As the two flees, Charlie proceeds to say: "What are you doing?! He's going to think that we're actually thieves!" But Maria proceeds to say: "At the state, he's in, he's already thinking that we're thieves!" The vendor continues to give chase as he says: "Stop! Someone! Stop those thieves!" As the two continue to run, a flower cart is being pulled up, which blocks their path. Just as they are about to crash, Maria jumps over the flower cart with Charlie as the vendor ends up crashing onto the flower cart. As the two see the vendor on the cart, Maria says: "Let's go, Charlie!" Maria, Charlie and Zeus then proceed to head down the alley as the vendor regains consciousness as the flower vendor looks at him and says: "So how are you going to pay for all of this?" The fruit vendor then says: "Me?! You were the one that got in the way!"

Out in the fields. Charlie, Zeus and Maria are running up the hill as Charlie and Zeus lay on the grassy hill as he says: "Man… I have never run that far before…" As the two rest, Maria walks up to Charlie and says: "Are you okay, Charlie?" Charlie then sits up as he says: "Yeah. But what I want to know is what were you doing that caused the vendor to get mad at you." This causes Maria to say: "It's like I said. I was falsely accused of stealing a bag from him. I'm pretty sure that I was framed by the actual culprit." As much as she wants to find the culprit, her plan right now is to wait until the heat is over as she looks for a place to hideout. When Maria notices the abandoned house, she says: "I got it." As Charlie wonders what she's talking about, Maria says: "Why don't we go over to that house and rest for a while." But Charlie was skeptical as he said: "Sure… And once the actual homeowners show up and see it, we'll be arrested for trespassing." But Maria proceeds to say: "I-I'm sure that it won't happen… Besides… That place is where I used to live…" This causes Charlie to say: "Huh? That is where you used to live?" Maria then says: "Y-Yeah… But the place has since been abandoned just after I moved out..." Charlie then says: "Well, okay then. Besides, I'm just too tired to go somewhere else. And who knows…" Charlie then shows Maria the small bag with a candy inside as he says: "We could even share a piece of candy." As Maria blushes, Charlie says: "So let's go then." As Charlie and Zeus head over to the abandoned house, Maria recalls his words earlier as she says: "You know… I do have a terrible habit of telling lies to Charlie when I'm around him. Well for now on, I'll only tell him the truth." "You coming, Maria?" Charlie says when he spots Maria not moving, Maria says: "Coming!" Maria then proceeds to follow Charlie to the abandoned house. _Starting tomorrow._

Once they enter the house, the two can clearly see that the place has been abandoned for some time as they notice that some of the furniture inside is broken as Charlie says: "Well… You are right. This place does look abandoned." This causes Maria to say: "Y-You see, Charlie… I knew it was abandoned." This causes Charlie to look at Maria and says: "Speaking of which, what was it like for you to live here?" As Maria says: "H-Huh… What was it like? W-Well… I was a lonely child when I was brought into the world…" Charlie then asks: "Alone?" And Maria starts to fluster as she says: "Y-Yes… I mean... Not exactly… What I meant to say is that I was a lonely child as I was living with my parents… W-We didn't get into many problems… B-But my parents did pass away when I was old enough… A-And I knew at the time that I didn't want to live with the knowledge to haunt me… So that's why I moved out…" As Zeus searches through the house, Charlie is getting suspicious as he says: "Is that really how it happens, Maria? Didn't you have any pleasant memories with your parents?" This causes Maria to say: "U-Um… About that…" But then Charlie notices the window that has a view of the castle as he says: "Whoa… I didn't know that this place has a good view of the castle…" Maria then says: "It's just a view." But when Charlie looks at Maria, Maria quickly says: "U-Uh… A-A view that inspires me to try and live like a princess." As Charlie looks back at the castle, he proceeds to say: "You know… I wonder if the princess is at the castle, today." And Maria simply says: "I seriously doubt it."

As Zeus searches outside of the house, he spots the dirty water on the ground. As he is quite tired, he was about to drink the water. But then he hears Charlie saying: "Zeus. Don't drink from there. That water is dirty. Use the well over there." Hearing that, Zeus notices the well as he proceeds to get on top of the well and sees the freshwater as he gets excited. But as he leaned in, his legs slipped as he fell into the well. This causes Charlie to yell out: "Zeus!" As Maria is shocked by it, Zeus wails out on the water as he tries not to drown. Charlie and Maria make their way to the well as Maria lends out her hand as she says: "Grab my hand!" As Maria leans down to see if she can grab Zeus's paw, Charlie also leans in as he says: "Hang on, Zeus!" But Charlie inadvertently pushed a brick into the well, which causes the water level to lower as Zeus goes deeper in the well and both Charlie and Maria say: "Zeus!" Seeing Zeus holding on to the wall for his dear life, both Charlie and Maria proceed to say: "Hang on!" As the two hurry to save Zeus, Zeus continues to cling on the wall of the well as he tries to live. But then Zeus lands on the bottom of the well, which causes Zeus to look around with confusion as he notices a large hole on the side of the wall. After Maria and Charlie manage to grab some sheets from inside and form a rope. As Maria ties the end of the rope to the tree, Charlie yells down the well: "Zeus!" But when he hears no response as Maria tosses the rope down the well, Charlie grabs the rope as he says: "He's not responding, I have to go down!" As Charlie goes over the well, Maria says: "Hold on, let me go down there for you." But Charlie proceeds to say: "I appreciate the offer, but I must go save my friend down there." Seeing Charlie's determination, Maria says: "Okay… But please be careful." Charlie nods as he prepares to go help his friend. But before he could get the chance, Zeus ran up to them and is wondering what the two are doing. Maria then sees Zeus as she is surprised as she says: "Zeus?!" But that also surprises Charlie as he accidentally slips down as he falls in the well, which scares her. But Charlie is able to save himself by grabbing onto the sheet rope and stopping himself by using his legs on the walls of the well.

After Charlie got out of the well, the three entered the house as the two investigated how Zeus got out of the well. But then they discovered that the fireplace has a secret stairway as Charlie says: "Is this how you got out, Zeus?" Maria then says: "What's downstairs?" As the three head downstairs, they see that it's a secret supply room downstairs as Charlie says: "Look at this place…" As they head downstairs, the two explores the area as Charlie sees the shelves as they are full of supplies as he says: "What are these shelves filled with?" As the two continue their investigation, Zeus alerts the two with his bark as the two turns and sees a hole in the wall with a metal level to the right. This causes Charlie to say: "So that's how you got out of the well." Wanting to investigate more into the room, Charlie grabs a lamp and lights it as he places it on the shelves as Charlie says: "I have a feeling that this isn't your home, nor is the place abandoned. But if there's something that you knew, please tell me." As Maria tries to pull the switch up with no success, Charlie says: "I wonder if there's a story to this place?" Maria then gives up on the switch as she investigates the shelf as she says: "If there is, it's possibly a dangerous story. And from the looks of it, someone has been stockpiling supplies for weeks." As Maria continues their investigation, Charlie notices the tarp as he heads over and removes it just so he can check what's behind it. And to his shock, what he sees is not only miniature cannons but also boxes with the kingdom's seal on it as Charlie says: "Maria, take a look at this." As Maria turns around and sees the supplies, she is shocked as well as she figures out what's going on. I've been hearing reports about supplies being short by one, in terms of supplies and weapons. If my guess is correct, then these boxes should be full of weapons. To confirm her suspicions, Maria opens one of the boxes and discovers six freshly made flintlock pistols with three small boxes of ammo. _I can think of only one person who is responsible for these "missing" supplies._

At Emily's house. Emily and Maximillian are playing a simple game of chess as they prepare for their plan. Since her son is officially married to someone else, she cannot commence her original plan of taking over the kingdom through them. So they decided to take the castle over by using an army of mercenaries. And in order to change the favour of war to them, Emily has her loyal workers to "miscount" some weapons crate and supplies. As Emily makes her move, Razor enters the room and walks up to the two and says: "The first phase of your plan is complete, Emily. Your army is about ready to head out." As Maximillian makes his move, Emily proceeds to say: "Good. While I was hoping to avoid any unnecessary violence, we have to take every precaution when it comes to the king and queen. It'll be a matter of time before the kingdom belongs to us. And when that happens..." Emily then makes her move as she places her rook next to the king and pushes it out of the board. The king piece falls to the ground as it breaks apart as Emily says: "It'll be checkmate."

Back at the abandoned place, Maria grabbed the swords and pistols from the box and placed them outside as she proceeded to sabotage the weapons by getting them wet. This causes Charlie to ask: "Hold on, Maria. Why are you trying to destroy the weapons? Don't you know who they belong to?" But Maria proceeds to say: "I know how you feel, Charlie. But the only reason why there would be supplies here is that they're planning on overthrowing the kingdom." As Charlie is shocked to hear how someone would want to overthrow a kingdom, Maria then proceeds to say: "Charlie. I want you to take Zeus and go home, I don't want anything dangerous happening to you." But what they don't know is that further away, the two that caused damage to the vase at the market, made it to the edge of the cliff as they saw the two. Confused, the Blaziken said: "Rex. Are they back from their list already?" And the Garchomp that was called Rex proceeds to say: "I don't think so, Twix. They don't look like…" "Hey, boss! We're here!" Said the rogue as the two turn around and see the two of their rogue friends. This causes the Blaziken that was called Twix to look back at the two and says: "It looks like we got ourselves some trouble."

Back in the supply room. Maria continues to deal with the weapons as Charlie follows her as he says: "Maria, if there's danger involved, then come with us." But Maria proceeds to say: "No. Not yet. I need to make sure that the weapons don't fall to the wrong hands." This causes Charlie to say: "If that's the case, then let me help you. We can take care of this together and get it done faster." But Maria proceeds to say: "No. It's too risky. I don't want to get you involved in something dangerous. Now go before someone spots us." Before Charlie could respond, the sounds of Zeus yelping as the two get alerted as Charlie says: "Zeus?" But when they look, they discover the four rogues going downstairs as they are wearing black hoods and are armed with flintlock pistols as Maria says: "They're here…". The four then reach the bottom of the stairs as Twix says: "So it looks like we got ourselves some love birds." Hoping to get out of the situation, Maria starts to nervously laugh as she says: "Sorry about that. We were having fun when we accidentally found this place. We'll just leave you on your way." But as Maria grabs Charlie's hand as they head out, Twix fires a warning shot which stops the two. Twix then tosses the fired pistol over to the rogue as the rogue passes Twix the unfired pistol as he says: "I don't think so. You two have seen too much to leave this place. Go over there!" Twix points the pistol over at the crates as Maria and Charlie head over to the crates with their hands up. Just as Twix points his pistol at them, Maria proceeds to say: "I hope you're not intending on firing your weapon, unless you're intending on blowing this place up." This causes Rex to say: "Huh?! And how did you know-" But Twix proceeds to say: "Forget it. It's obvious that they know more than they let on." And as the two remained silent, the rogue that was sitting on the stairs was grabbed from behind and dragged upstairs as his muffled screams went unheard to the other three rogues. Twix then proceeds to say: "Besides, I have a better way of dealing with them. Bring them outside!"

Outside. Zeus is hiding in the bushes, since the rogues have weapons and that he has no chance of taking them on. The rogues had tied both Charlie and Maria up in rope as they pushed them near the well and the three rogues faced them down with the last rogue joining them. Rex then says: "Now start talking!" Wanting to get Charlie out of danger, Maria proceeds to say: "I get it. Just take me to your boss. Your boss should recognize me. But in exchange, I want you to make sure that Charlie goes home free and unharmed. If anything happens to him, then I won't speak a word." But Rex proceeds to say: "Who do you think you are that you can order us around!" Rex then backhand Maria as she falls to the ground, which causes Charlie to yell: "Maria!" But the rogue manages to catch him as Twix goes to the well and pushes the brick with the pistol. This causes the hole to seal up as it starts filling up with water. Twix then proceeds to break the brick off from the outside as Charlie sees Maria getting up as he says: "Maria… Are you okay…" Maria then says: "I'm fine… But… I couldn't get you out of here…" But Charlie then proceeds to say: "It's not your fault, Maria. These rogues are responsible for this. All you did was try to free me and prevent them from getting the weapons. I couldn't be more proud of you." Maria then says: "Charlie…" The two then look at each other as they wonder how they'll get out of this mess.

Twix then proceeds to say: "Okay. The well is filling up, throw them in." As the other rogue grabs Maria, the two rogues proceed to toss Maria and Charlie down the well as they land in the water. As the two reach the surface of the water to get some air, the two look at each other as Maria says: "Are you hurt?" And Charlie says: "No. I'm fine." But then they look up as they see the opening of the well being boarded up by the rogues, which prevents their escape. This causes Maria to say: "It looks like these guys are intending on drowning us…" But then Charlie notices something behind Maria as he says: "Maria. There's something stuck behind your back." This causes Maria to say: "Huh?" As Maria looks behind her, she sees that there's a dagger behind the ropes. _Why would these rogues give us a dagger… Unless… Skarlet!_

As the four rogues examine the wet weapons, Rex proceeds to say: "It looks like they tried to ruin the weapons. What should we do, Twix?" Twix then proceeds to say: "It doesn't look that bad, but that's not important. We need to hurry and find a better hideout and fast. You two, take the weapons to the back. We'll stay and keep an eye out." The two rogues nodded as they grabbed the wet weapons as they headed around back as Twix and Rex are on watch. As the two rogues head around the back, the rogue is suddenly hit in the back of the head as he falls to the ground while dropping the weapons he has. The causes of the fallen rogue were the other rogue with a rifle that he has. This also caused Twix and Rex to get alerted as Twix says: "Something's wrong." The two then hurries to the back of the house as he sees the fallen rogue on the ground. As Rex removes the hood from the fallen hood, Rex proceeds to say: "What happened…" As the two looks at each other, the two quickly pointed their weapons at each other. But Twix quickly says: "Hold on!" The two then quickly remove their hoods as they see and confirm each other as they lower their weapons as they sigh of relief. As they look around, Rex notices someone and fires his pistol at the last rogue as he says: "Hold it!" As Twix fires his pistol as well, Twix says: "Get him!" The two then proceed to chase after the last rogue as they know he's the traitor.

While the two continue to chase the last rogue, Zeus heads to the well when he sees the rogues are gone. As Zeus sees the broken brick, he knows that there's no way to stop the water with the brick. In the well. After Charlie manages to grab the dagger from Maria's back, he proceeds to cut Maria's rope so he can free her as Charlie says: "Hold on… Almost there…" Once Charlie cuts the rope off, he proceeds to say: "Got it!" Maria then turns around and grabs the dagger as she says: "Thanks, Charlie." Just as she was about to cut Charlie's rope off, they heard Zeus barking as they looked up as Charlie says: "Zeus!" As Zeus continues to bark, Charlie says: "Listen to me, Zeus. There should be a brick that's standing out from within the well. I need you to push the brick in so that we can go through the hole." But when Charlie hears Zeus whining, he realizes something as he says: "No… You're saying that they destroyed the brick?" Maria is curious as she says: "How did you know what Zeus is saying?" Charlie then looks at Maria as he says: "We've been friends since I was young, so we understand what we're staying." Maria then says: "I see…" Maria then looks at Zeus as she says: "Zeus. There should be a lever in the secret room. See if you can pull it." But Zeus looks confused, which saddens Maria as she says: "I guess he couldn't understand me…" This causes Charlie to say: "Remember? There's a lever next to the hole. See if you can pull it." Zeus nods as he hurries to the secret room.

Inside. The last rogue runs inside the abandoned house as he is quickly cornered by Rex and Twix as Rex grabs the last rogue by behind as Twix says: "So… Let see who our fake is." Twix then removes the hood as while it may look like the rogue, the lower face has a Greninja mouth as the fake rogue says: "It looks like we meet again, "royal guard"." The two quickly recognize the fake rogue as Skarlet as Twix says: "You…" But before the two could do something, Skarlet tosses a smoke bomb from her hand as it blinds the two in the smoke, allowing Skarlet to escape. Twix blindly throws a punch in thin air, only to knock Rex out as he hits the wall before dropping to the ground. As the smoke clears, Twix sees Skarlet fleeing as he says: "Get back here!" Twix then proceeds to chase Skarlet as he heads out of the house. While that's going on, Zeus enters the house through the window as he hurries into the fireplace and heads to the secret room. Once Zeus sees the lever, he proceeds to jump towards it and bites the lever. But despite his effort, the lever remains still as Zeus struggles to pull it down. Zeus then sees the shelf as he has an idea of how to free them.

In the well. After Maria cuts the rope from Charlie, the two go underwater as they try to open the trap hole. As Charlie tries to pull the blocked hole to the side, Maria tries to jam a dagger in any signs of opening so that she can slip in and push the blocked hole to the side. Unfortunately, their plan doesn't work as they hurry back up and emerge out of the water. As the two catch their breaths, Maria says: "It's no use. It won't budge from all of this water." As Charlie looks at Maria and says: "Maria…" Maria then says: "I'm sorry… I guess I'm not as much of a hero as I thought…" As the water almost reaches the top, Charlie shakes his head as he says: "Don't say that. You've managed to save me more times than I could count." As Maria looks surprised, Charlie then proceeds to say: "You know… This could be the last time we would get to say this… But I'm glad to have met you, Maria." Maria starts to blush as she says: "Charlie..." Charlie then proceeds to say: "Whenever I was dealing with some troubles, you were always there to make me happy and help me out when I was in trouble. I mean it." Maria was touched by his words as she proceeds to say: "Thank you… I… I also feel the same way as you. If I haven't met you, I would have never expected to meet some new friends. And I would have never been on many fun adventures if you weren't around." As the water submerges the two, the two looks at each other's eyes as the two embraces each other. And as if this was the last thing that the two have ever done, the two proceed to kiss with passion.

In the secret room, Zeus quickly jumps on top of the shelf as he tries to push the shelf over to the lever. But the shelf is heavy as Zeus is struggling to push the shelf down. But Zeus remembers that Charlie and Maria are in danger as Zeus put as much strength as he can to push the shelf. Eventually, Zeus is able to push the shelf away from the wall as the shelf falls and hits the lever. As Zeus sits on the fallen shelf, the trap hole opens up as water flows out of the hole, allowing both Charlie and Maria to escape the trap as they landed on the shelf. As Zeus lets out an excited bark, the two look at Zeus as Charlie says: "Zeus… Thank you…" Charlie then faints on the shelf as he gave his air to Maria as he was kissing her. Maria notices Charlie fainted as she places her hand on his head and feels that he is fine. Knowing the situation Skarlet is in, she looks at Zeus as she says: "Zeus, keep an eye on Charlie. I'll check and see if the rogues are gone."

Outside. Twix and Rex manage to catch Skarlet as Twix says: "There's no use struggling. Your friends are already at the bottom of the well and you will join them soon." But Maria manages to grab Twix and points the dagger at his neck, which catches Twix off guard. Skarlet uses this to her advantage as she grabs Rex's arm and locks it behind his back as she holds him. Maria then says: "The well has a secret exit that allows us to escape. And the water that's in the well has submerged the supplies and the weapons you kept in the secret room." This causes Twix to say: "W-What?!" Maria then says: "It pretty much destroys any supplies and weapons that you have." This causes Skarlet to say: "It looks like your boss is not going to be happy when they find out what happened to the supplies." Maria then says: "Now talk! Who's your boss!" Admitting defeat, Twix proceeds to say: "Okay! Okay! We'll talk!" Twix and Rex begin to spill the beans as they give information to Maria and Skarlet. Maria then lets the four rogues go as the four proceeds to ride off. Skarlet is confused as she says: "You letting them go, Maria?" Maria then says: "Yes. At the end of the day, they were only looking for survival. So I'm sure that we'll never see them again. But I know that this isn't the only place that has stolen weapons and supplies." Skarlet proceeds to say: "Right." Maria then says: "At least we know who the true culprit behind all of this. And that is Emily." The two then look at the castle as they prepare for their battle with Emily.

After some time has passed. Charlie wakes up as he is placed on the couch. As he sits up, he hears Maria's voice saying: "Did you have a pleasant dream, Charlie?" Charlie then looks and sees both Maria and Zeus as Charlie says: "Maria… I'm glad that you're okay." Maria smiles as she kisses Charlie in the cheek, which causes Charlie to blush. As the two look at each other, Zeus gets in between the two as Charlie and Maria look at him as Charlie says: "Hey Zeus…" As Zeus barks in excitement, Charlie proceeds to say: "Thanks for saving us." Maria then says: "Yeah. You really did help us." This causes Zeus to bask in the glory for saving the two. As the three leave the abandoned house, both Charlie and Maria continue to hug each other as they become a couple. As Charlie says: "It's nice to see the sun again…" Charlie looks at Maria as he then says: "So… Will you ever tell me where you live." This causes Maria to say: "Oh… Well… I live…" Just then, the two hears the castle's bells as Maria inadvertently points at the castle. Charlie sees her pointed finger as he looks at the castle, which causes him to say: "Don't tell me you're trying to-" But when he looks at Maria, he sees her looking serious as she stares at the castle. This causes Charlie to wonder if Maria does live in the castle as the two stares at the castle while the bells ring at the castle.


	23. The Plan to Assassinate the Princess

**The Plan to Assassinate the Princess**

In the Lestorm's house. Charlie is working on a hat for Max's costume. Today, Albert is throwing a costume party and as expected, Charlie has been put in charge of preparing everything for the party. Max then proceeds to say: "Are you finished sewing that hat in?" And Charlie replied: "Not yet, but I'm almost done." Charlie was told by both Alex and Max to get the costumes ready for them when the costume party started. And even though Charlie doesn't have a costume himself, he is at least glad that his friends will come to the costume party, especially with his new found girlfriend Maria. Alex then says: "Hey, Charlie. What's with this fake flintlock pistol?" Charlie then says: "It's a part of your costume, Alex. You can use it to let people think that your armour is invincible." This causes Alex to say: "I see, thanks, Charlie." Max then proceeds to say: "Hey. Charlie. Mind passing that belt to me." And as Charlie says: "Sure. Just give me a few minutes." Max then says: "I'm not going to go out and get the belt when my hands on the pants. Just hurry and grab the belt." This causes Charlie to say: "Okay. I'll-" But before Charlie could stand up, Ruby proceeds to grab the belt and hurries over to Max. Max then grabs the belt from Ruby as he says: "Thanks, Ruby." As Ruby walks away from Max, she looks at Charlie as Charlie whispers to her: "Thank you, Ruby." Ruby nods as she's glad to be on his side. Just as Charlie finishes sewing the hat together, Max says: "Charlie. Are you finished with it?" And Charlie stands up and walks towards Max as he says: "Yeah. Just now." As Charlie hands Max the hat, they hear Albert's voice saying: "Charlie! How's the preparation for the party! Alex and Max. Where are your costumes?" As Charlie turns around, he sees Albert walking into the room as Charlie says: "I've sent out the invitation, just as you ask. And I just finished with their costumes too." Alex and Max then peek out of the folding screen as Alex says: "Yeah, we got these costumes just for us."

As the two brothers step out of the folding screen as the sight surprised Albert. Alex's costume consists of a Hercules' type armour with a couple of fake flintlock pistols on his holsters, while Max's costume consists of a Robin Hood's type of clothing with a green feather hat. But this causes Albert to say: "Why are you two wearing such ridiculous costumes! There's no way you two can be seen in those costumes!" But Max proceeds to say: "But Father. You were the one that said that this is a costume party. And our costumes are going to be the best ones." But Albert proceeds to say: "Just because we're having a costume party, that does not mean you get to go and play dress-up." As Albert takes the armour and hat off of Alex and Max and hands them over to Charlie, Albert then says: "With the possibility of the princess accepting our invitation, we cannot make any mistakes when it comes to this party. I want the two of you to wear your finest suits so when the princess does show up, you will prove to her how you are meant for royalty while the others would rather play dress up." As Alex and Max take off their costumes, Alex proceeds to say: "Oh. I get what you're saying, Father." Max then proceeds to look at Charlie as he proceeds to say: "In that case, we'll let Charlie decide on which costume is better by letting him wear them himself." As Max hands his costume over to Charlie, Alex says: "Yeah… Good idea. Although he's not that smart, I do know that he'll pick mine for sure." And as Charlie says: "Really… You want me to be at the costume party?" Albert proceeds to say: "Absolutely not, Charlie." Albert then takes the costume away, which saddens Charlie, as Albert then says: "This party is not for you. This is only for my real sons. Your role is to only serve the guests we have for this party." As the two brothers look at each other with disappointment that they'll never know which costume is better, Albert then says: "Now go and get the food ready." This causes Charlie to say: "Yes, sir." As Charlie proceeds to leave the room and head down the halls, he spots Jen with a worried look on her face as he says: "What's wrong, Jen?"

As Charlie just found out when he enters the kitchen, the bread and the pastries are all burnt. He figures that when he went to help Alex and Max with their costume, he didn't estimate how long it would take to help them, which causes the bread and pastries to burn. As Jen, Ruby and Zeus are sad about this, Charlie sees them sad as he says: "It'll be okay. I can just hurry and bake some more, right…" Just then, they heard the door open as they heard: "Hello, everyone. I hope I'm not too early." Charlie then looks over as he sees Cinder with a couple of trays of food as Charlie says: "Oh, hello Cinder." Cinder proceeds to walk downstairs as she says: "I made some treats for the costume party going on." Charlie then grabs the tray from Cinder as he says: "Thank you." As Charlie sees the tray full of food, Charlie says: "Wow. They do look tasty." As Cinder then says: "I hope they taste good as well. I haven't baked in a long time." As Charlie goes over to the counter to place the tray down, he proceeds to say: "I'm sure that they will love it." Cinder then proceeds to look at the burnt loaves of bread and pastries that are on the counter. She then concluded that Albert and his family must have worked him to the bone and had forced him to let the food burn. This causes Cinder to say to herself: "I guess it's time to help him out." She then proceeds to cast a spell on the burnt food, which changes into freshly made loaves of bread and pastries. Cinder then says: "By the way, Charlie. Did you make these?" Charlie then looked over and said: "Yeah. But they're burnt. I'll have to start over." But Cinder proceeds to pick up one of the pastries as Cinder says: "You sure?" While I don't know much about cooking, I do think that they're fine." Confused, Charlie walks over and sees the bread and pastries that are not burnt. This causes Charlie to say: "How did it… I could've sworn that they were burnt." As Ruby, Jen and Zeus figure out who it was, Cinder proceeds to leave the kitchen as she says: "I'll see you at the party, Charlie." Charlie then asks: "Hold on. Will I be able to recognize you in your costume?" Cinder then proceeds to turn around and says: "You'll have to find out at the party."

Meanwhile, at the abandoned house. Maria and Skarlet are staking out the house from the distance as they look for anyone entering the place. As Skarlet says: "Hopefully, we can capture someone and bring them to the king." Maria says: "I hope so too… And hopefully, we can explain Emily's traitorous plan to my Mother and Father with Nicole, once Emily's gone. Hopefully, we can stop her in time." And she also hopes that once they manage to stop Emily's plan once and for all, she can confess to Charlie that she's actually a princess. But for now, her plan is focused on stopping Emily's plan, since she has the advantage in the eyes of the King and Queen, due to Maria's past reckless adventures. And even though she has Nicole and Skarlet on her side, she'll have to do this with them or else Emily would take the kingdom over. Some time has passed as they haven't seen anything yet as Skarlet says: "I wonder if Nicole will manage to convince the king to listen to us." And as Maria says: "I hope so-" The sound of flocks of Fearows can be heard in the distance, catching both Maria and Skarlet's attention.

As the two see the flock of Fearows flying away, Skarlet says: "Wonder what spook them?" Maria starts to get suspicious as she says: "Yeah… I wonder as well…" It was then that Maria thought to herself. There's no way that a flock of Fearows would just fly in a flock like that. And it was at this moment that Maria came into a horrifying realization. And that there's a good possibility that Emily's army is already heading their way to invade the castle. This causes Maria to look at Skarlet and says: "The castle must be in danger. Let's go." As Maria takes off on her Rapidash, Skarlet follows her as she says: "I'm with you." As the two hurry to return to the castle, a lone man is staring at the two from the distance as he says: "It's time." The lone man then quickly flees the bridge, just as the two are getting near the bridge. What the two don't know is that there's a bomb planted below the bridge. And just as the two got on the bridge, the lit fuse went inside the bomb, causing the bomb to explode and taking out the bridge in a fiery explosion.

Over at the castle of Espérer. Captain George is overseeing the training of his soldiers as part of his usual drill. But as his drill is going well, he notices one of his soldiers falls to the ground as he starts to he falls to the ground. As George is alerted, he soon sees the other soldiers starting to cough as they fall to the ground. George proceeds to runs up to the fallen soldier as he says: "What happened?!" And the fallen soldier proceeded to say: "Don't… Don't drink the… root…" The fallen soldier then closed his eyes as he slumped his head. George quickly checks the pulse and is relieved that he's still breathing. This causes George to believe that his soldiers were poisoned by a paralyzing drug and there's only one place he can think of. George then quickly runs towards the pub as he knows what that fallen soldier was talking about. Upon entering, George quickly sees most of the soldiers are enjoying a cold mug of root beer as the few remaining soldiers are waiting for the waitress to serve them. George then proceeds to shout: "Don't drink the root beer! The drink's tainted with a paralyzing drug!" As the few soldiers who didn't have the drink stand up in shock, most of the soldiers proceed to drop the mugs as they have that terrifying look on their faces. George proceeded to head to the bar and said to the waitress: "Tell me! What happened to that broth!" The waitress was silent at first, but then she lowers her head as she says: "I'm sorry…" But then they hear another voice saying: "Don't blame her…" Suddenly, a rogue with a cloak and mask on stands up with a dagger behind the waitress's back as he says: "She was only doing what we told her." This angers George as he says: "You coward…" But before they could draw their swords, several soldiers in black clothing rushed into the pub and pointed their rifles at them. Even though George could take the rogue on, he knew that most of the soldiers were already affected by the tainted broth, forcing him and his men to surrender. This causes the rogue to say: "Good… You made the right choice, "captain"."

As more soldiers enter the unguarded castle, the servers and maids are hiding in fear as they do not know what they would do to them if they get caught. As more soldiers flood the castle floors, the king and queen are watching this from the throne room with Nicole. As King Lionhart says: "Just who are these people?" As Nicole sees the soldiers as well, she has a look of fear in her eyes as she realized that Emily is putting her plan into action as she looks at the Queen and King and says: "Your highness, we must hurry and find safety for the two of you." The King and Queen are confused as Queen Oracle says: "What are you talking-" "M-My lord. L-Look out." Said one of their servants as the three turns and see the soldiers breaking into the room as they have their servants captured, as one of the soldiers in black uniform proceeds to say: "Don't move!" As they cut off their exit points, Queen Oracle proceeds to say: "What is the meaning of this?" But the soldiers proceeded to draw their swords and pointed at them. As the three are trapped, King Lionhart proceeded to say: "Who are you?! And who's commanding you to do this foul deed?!"

"I believe I can answer this question for you, my "lord"." Said an all too familiar voice. As some of the soldiers proceed to step sideways, the three see Emily, Lucard, Maximilian and Razor are with the soldiers that invaded the castle. This causes Lionhart to say: "Emily… You tratious dog. You'll never take this kingdom from me." But Emily simply replied: "Oh, but I'm afraid that you don't have a choice. As of today, I will be taking over Castle Espérer and I will be relieving the two of you of your royal duties." As Nicole proceeds to say: "Do you really think that the citizens would let you get away with this?" Emily proceeds to say: "Your worries are not needed, Nicole. I know of a way to get them to listen to me…" Lionhart then says: "Your plan will never go through…" Emily then says: "Oh, I think it will. But as a token of my gratitude, I'll let the three of you stay here in the castle, as long as you agree to follow my command." With Oracle saying: "How can we be so blinded in trusting you…" Lionhart then says: "And what about our daughter? Do you think that she would follow you?" But this causes Emily to laugh as Oracle starts to worry as she says: "No… You didn't…" But Emily simply said: "Now… I'll be taking what's mine." Emily then proceeds to walk up to Lionhart and snatches his crown as she places it on her head. As Emily's soldiers hold the three back from her, Emily sits on her throne as she says: "Take the three to the dungeon, where all the others will be waiting." As the soldiers drag the three away, Emily starts to laugh with her new position in the castle. Once the three are gone, Emily proceeds to say: "Lucard. Send a carrier to Reaper. Let him know that we have taken the castle." Lucard then bows as he says: "As you command, your highness."

Over at the town of Espérer. Tony and Capra are waiting for May to show up since they planned on going to Charlie's costume party. As Tony and Capra got their clown costumes ready as they waited on the fountain, with Capra's costume and make-up taking up most of the time, Tony proceeds to say: "I wonder what's taking May so long?" As Capra wonders as well, the two suddenly heard a giggle as they heard: "Hello there, you two." This causes the two to turn around and see what they thought was Princess Maria, is actually May in her costume as Tony says: "M-May?!" May then walks around the fountain as she says: "That's right. Feast your eye on the one and only Princess Maria's double!" While Capra is amazed by May's costume, Tony bows his head as he says: "Amazing as always. You managed to pull off Princess Maria's look again." May then says: "Yup. And I have even taken a few lessons on how to act like a princess. I'm sure we can make them believe that I'm the real thing. Now let's go to the party." Tony then proceeds to bow down as he says: "Of course." May then proceeds to rub the back of her head as she smiles while saying: "Oh… I can't wait to see the looks on their faces…" And when Tony lifts his head and sees what May is doing, he quickly said: "Hold on, May. You'll give yourself away if you do that." May then lifts her hand away from her head as she wonders what Tony meant as Tony then says: "The Princess tends to be a mature woman with a polite personality. If you want to convince them that you're a princess, then you need to be polite." This causes May to say: "Yeah… You got a point."

Unbeknownst to them, several bachelors notice the two as they thought that May is actually the princess as one of the bachelors says: "Is that the princess?" Another bachelor proceeded to say: "Yeah. There she is." As more bachelors join the group so that they can see the "princess", Capra notices the group and proceeds to tap on both Tony and May's shoulders to get their attention. And when Tony and May turn and notice the group, they get worried as they're attracting too much attention right now as Tony says: "We should run…" And May said: "Agree…" The two then proceeds to run with Capra on Tony's shoulder as the bachelors try to catch up to the two, just so they can interact with the "princess". But when the bachelors see the two going around the corner, they follow them, only to see nothing but a dead-end ally. And while the bachelors are confused over how they managed to get away, the three teleport to a separate alley as they successfully flee from the bachelors.

Back at the destroyed bridge. The four men are looking at the bridge for any signs of life. Just then, the fifth guy came up to them and said: "We've got word that our client has taken the castle." The guy that was called Reaper thought to himself before proceeding to say: "Very well. Send the carrier back to our client. Tell them that we have finished with our job and will return to inform them of the Princess's life." The guy then said: "Consider it done." As the fifth guy heads back, one of the other guys said: "So have you confirmed that the Princess is dead?" Reaper proceeds to say: "Not yet. But our client should be expecting us soon. So let's head out for now." Just as Reaper proceeds to climb the hill, one of the men says: "And if she's alive." As the other mens climb the hill as well, Reaper then says: "We'll give her to our client as a gift." Yes, these five men are assassins, hired by Emily to take out the Princess. And should the Princess live after Emily takes over the castle, then they'll kidnap her and bring her to Emily.

What the five assassins don't know is that Maria and Skarlet were only blown away from the explosive as they and their mounts only received minor scratches. As the two hide near the destroyed bridge, using the broken bridge piece that lands upward as cover, they peek over and see the five assassins riding away on their Zebstrikas. As Maria says: "It looks like we'll be expecting trouble." And as Skarlet says: "If they're here… Does that mean…" Maria then says: "Yeah… There's no doubt." It was then that Maria knew that Emily had succeeded in taking over the castle. Even though she has regretted not stopping her earlier, she knew that as long as she is still breathing, she'll do anything to stop Emily and take back the castle. Maria then says: "We'll have to be careful in evading these guys if we want to take the castle back." Skarlet nodded as she said: "Of course." The two then quickly get on their Rapidashes as they go around the destroyed bridge.

But just as they made it to the other side, Maria quickly spots Reaper as he fires his rifle at them. As Maria nearly dodged the bullet, one of the assassins handed Reaper another rifle as he fired at them. As the second bullet hit the ground near them, Maria proceeds to say: "Let's go, Skarlet! Quickly!" As the two flee, the five assassins give chase as they ride down the path. As the five are catching up, Skarlet knew that it would be a matter of time before they would catch them. So Skarlet looks at Maria and says: "Maria! Hurry back to the castle as soon as you can! I'll stay and hold them off as long as I can!" Even though Maria doesn't want to put her friend in danger, she knew that letting the assassins catch them is not an option. So Maria looks at Skarlet and says: "Okay! But be careful and stay safe!" Skarlet nodded as she said: "Understand!" Maria then proceeds to ride off as Skarlet turns around and unsheathes her sword and says: "Come face me!" Skarlet then proceeds to charge at the five assassins with her sword raised. But as she gets close, Reaper proceeds to jump over Skarlet which forces her to stop as one of the assassins manages to get by her.

As Maria continues to flee, Reaper and the assassin are in hot pursuit. As Maria goes through a thick forest, she knows that trying to outride them is out of the question as it will only make her Rapidash tired. But when she leaves the thick forest, she has an idea of how she can evade them. As she rode down the path, she quickly jumped and hid on one of the branches on the tree near the branches. As Reaper and the assassin leave the thick forest, they see the Rapidash without the Princess as they are confused. They then stop in their path as they search for any signs of the Princess as Reaper says: "Keep your eyes peel.". But while the two kept their eyes peeled, Maria manages to get the drop on the assassin and cover his mouth to prevent him from alerting Reaper. And as Maria proceeds to drag the assassin off of his Zebstrika, Reaper turns around and sees the assassin gone. Suspicious, Reaper gets off his Zebstrika and heads towards the other Zebstrika as he looks around. He then notices the heavy footprints on the ground as he says: "So that's where you went." Reaper then proceeds to get on his Zebstrika as he rides off.

What the Reaper doesn't know is that Maria is actually hidden nearby with the tied up and gagged assassin. She then looks over and sees Reaper heading down a path as the path leads to the Lestorm's house. Seeing that has caused Maria to say: "No… He's heading to Charlie's house." As she recalls, Charlie's family is having a costume party at their house. And even though she is invited to come to the costume party, both as the Princess from Albert and as herself from Charlie, back then, she couldn't afford letting Emily go for one day. Though that changed when Emily took over the castle. And with Reaper heading to Charlie's house, she has a feeling that not only is Charlie and his family would be put in danger, but the guests that are enjoying the party would also be put in danger. Maria was about to head out, only to stop and see that since she is wearing her Princess outfit, the assassin would've easily spotted her. She then looks over at the assassin and notices the clothing that he has. She then decides to take the clothing off of the assassin and wears it herself. While the clothing is a little tight, it at least conceals her Princess outfit. She then proceeds to run towards Charlie's house in an attempt to stop Reaper from hurting the guests.

Back at the Lestorm's house. The costume party is going on as the guests are enjoying themselves while wearing their costumes. Among them is Cinder as she is wearing a witch costume. Charlie, Jen, Ruby and Zeus see Cinder's costume as Cinder says: "So, what do you think?" Charlie then proceeds to say: "Wow… You look like an actual witch." Zeus then proceeds to say that she is, though Charlie couldn't understand what he said, which gives Cinder the chance to look around as she proceeds to say: "Well thank you. But it looks like "Princess Maria" is the one that's stealing the show, today." Charlie then looks over and sees Tony and Capra with their clown costumes as well as May in her Princess Maria's outfit as Charlie says: "Yeah. May is a great actress." Over to the three, May proceeds to bow gracefully as she says: "It's an honour for the two of you to invite me." Of course, May is talking to the two brothers as Alex says: "Oh, it's nothing compared to your beauty, my Princess." But then Max proceeds to move past Alex as he says: "Would you like to dance with me, my Princess?" Alex then looks at Max and says: "Hold it, Max. I'll dance with the Princess first." Nearby, Albert is watching the two brothers fight as usual as Albert proceeds to say: "I'll need to teach them not to fight in front of the real Princess…"

As the costume party continues, Reaper is hiding nearby as he notices the Princess is within the crowds as he says: "Well… Aren't you clever, Princess…" He figures that she uses the crowd as protection as he knows that if he tries to attack the Princess, he'll get pinned down in a matter of seconds. So he'll have to be clever to steal the princess and leave unscathed. At the party. Alex proceeds to say: "So, I heard that you're one of the best sword fighters in the region." Tony then jumps in as he says: "That's right. Not only is she the best in the region, but she's also the best showman." This excites the brothers as Max says: "Would you mind showing us your sword skills?" Tony then proceeds to say: "She'll never deny any requests from some fine gentleman." With May knowing that Tony is setting up an audience for her, she nods her head as she says: "If that's what you want…" May then proceeds to draw her sword from her sheath and lunge her sword to the air a couple of times as the crowd gets excited. May then notices someone as she points her sword as she says: "You there. You seem like a good fighter, how about a challenge from me?" The crowd then looked as they saw Reaper, who was trying to sneak into the party without notice. But much to Reaper's confusion, the crowd starts to cheer as he wonders what sort of plan the Princess is doing.

With the two into position, May proceeds to say: "Now… Let's begin!" The two begin to clash swords as although Reaper has more experience, May is able to handle herself with a few sword fighting lessons she received. As the two continue to clash, the crowd cheered for May as Tony says: "That's right! The Princess's skills are like no other! She will surely defeat this man and claim another victory!" As the crowd continues to cheer for May, Reaper is getting furious as even though this was supposed to be a duel, he believed that the Princess is going to make a fool out of him and he won't let that happen. Reaper then proceeds to push forward with his attacks as May is forced to walk back with her sword as she says: "H-Hold on. You know we're only acting, right?" But Reaper continues with his attack as the two go further and further away from the party. But the crowd continues to cheer for May as they think it's part of the fun. It was then that Albert said: "Well, that was fun. But I think it's time we have ourselves some refreshments." As Albert leads Alex and Max to the tables, the crowd follows them as Tony knows that the act is over now as he proceeds to say: "Okay, May! The show's over! You can come back now!" But there's silence as Tony says: "May!" But with no response, Charlie says: "Something strange is going on…"

As Reaper continues with his attack, May starts to panic as she sees Reaper slashing the tree as she says: "W-What are you doing?! T-The show's over now!" But the Reaper simply said: "Do you really think that you can escape from me, Princess?" And as May continues to try and block Reaper's furious attacks, May panicky said: "H-Huh?! What are you talking about?! I'm not the Princess!" But Reaper said: "You can't fool me, you coward!" As May continues to back away from Reaper, she ends up stepping backwards as she falls backward from a cliff. As she hits the ground and got knocked out from the impact, Reaper looks down at May as he says: "I thought that you were the best. Such a disappointment." "May?! Are you okay?!" The voice of Charlie is heard as Reaper looks behind him and sees Charlie, Cinder, Tony and Capra as he thinks that they'll try to stop him as he heads down the hill. The four see Reaper as Tony says: "No… May!" As Tony runs after Reaper, Charlie says: "Hold on!" As Tony continues to try and help May, he sees Reaper placing May on the back of the Zebstrika as Tony says: "May!" As Cinder and Charlie catch up to him, Cinder says: "Come on, we've got to help that girl." But then Charlie notices the cliff as he says: "Wait! There's a-" But it was too late as Tony slips on the cliff and manages to hold on to the edge of the cliff, while Cinder slips off the cliff as well as she manages to grab on to Tony. Charlie tries to stop, but he ends up sliding off the cliff as he grabs on to Cinder for dear life.

Back on the ground. Maria is able to catch up as she spots Reaper getting on a Zebstrika with what it looks to be Princess Maria herself. Maria then proceeds to draw her rapier as she stands in front of Reaper as she says: "Hold it!" But Reaper simply rides ahead as Maria is forced to step aside. Charlie looks down as he sees Maria as he says: "Maria?" But then Charlie slips off of Cinder's costume as Capra manages to grab Charlie and teleport him to the ground, giving Charlie a slight bump below. As Charlie looks at Capra, he says: "Thanks, Capra. Now help Tony and Cinder." Capra nodded as he went to save Cinder and Tony. Charlie then turns her attention to Maria and says: "I wonder what Maria's up to?" As Maria looks forward, she sees that he's already got some distance and she needs to hurry and catch up with them. But when she turns and sees Charlie, Maria proceeds to say: "Charlie! It's very important that I need a carriage!" While Charlie doesn't understand what's going on, he nodded as he said: "Okay, we can use our carriage." As the two make their way back home, Maria and Charlie quickly get on the carriage as Cesar says: "W-Wait, what are you-" But Maria proceeds to drive off with the two Zebstrikas in tow. As she drives the carriage, Charlie proceeds to sit next to Maria, which surprises her, while Zeus, Jen and Ruby sit in the back of the carriage, after they got on while Maria was taking off with it.

Back in the castle of Espérer. Emily asks: "Tell me Maximilian, have we received word from our carrier?" Maximilian then explained: "Yes, your highness. We've received word that they have completed their task and they're on their way back to let us know the fate of our former Princess." Emily then starts to laugh as she says: "Good. Even though I have taken over the castle, I cannot say that I feel confident unless I know that Maria is taken care of, once and for all." Meanwhile, in the dungeons. Most of the soldiers that are in the dungeon are recovering from the paralyzing drug as Captain George says: "We're sorry, my lord. We failed to protect you and the kingdom with our lives…" But Lionhart proceeds to say: "Do not give in to despair. We know that they will be punished for their wrongdoings. And until we lose our breath, we must keep fighting." Just then, they heard a Pidove flying as they look up and see a Pidove with a small note wrapped around the leg. As the Pidove lands near Oracle's shoulder, Nicole says: "What does the note say?" Oracle gently grabs the Pidove and grabs the note as she begins reading. And while she gasps at first, she then starts to cry with a smile on her face as she says: "My daughter… My daughter is okay!" This causes the guards to cheer as they know that they will save them from Emily.

Back in the fields. Maria and Charlie continue to chase Reaper as Charlie says: "Hurry, Maria. We can't lose them." Maria nodded as she says: "Got it." As they continue to drive the carriage, Charlie sees the Castle of Espérer as he says: "What? Does he work at the castle? Is May going to be punished for impersonating the Princess?" But Maria said: "No. That guy is bad news. He thinks that I'm his captor." Charlie was confused as he said: "Huh? What are you talking about?" Maria didn't respond as Skarlet proceeded to ride alongside them as Skarlet says: "Maria!" Maria looks at Skarlet and says: "Skarlet." Skarlet then says: "Emily has locked the army in the dungeon with a paralyzing drug. But I have managed to find back up." Maria then looks over as Charlie is still confused. But then he sees a bunch of soldiers in white clothing and armed with weapons. This causes Charlie to say: "Hold on, Maria. Could you explain what's going on?" But Maria simply said: "Now's not the time. We need to hurry to the castle, or Espérer will fall to the wrong hands." As they continue forward, Skarlet gives out a signal to the army nearby. This causes the army to ride out towards the castle.

At the castle gates. Two of Emily's men are guarding the gate as they see Reaper riding. They let him pass without a word as they continue on their guard. But then they spotted a carriage as one of the men says: "Halt! No one is allowed on this property!" Maria stops in front of the gate as she says: "I'm taking this castle back, now!" Maria then draws her rapier as she leaps from the carriage as the two men draw their swords. But before they could manage to attack, Maria ends up taking the two men down in one swoop. As Maria heads forward, Charlie gets out of the carriage as he says: "Wait, Maria!" As Zeus, Jen and Ruby follow Charlie, Maria's army proceeds to lay siege at the castle while they shout: "For Espérer!" As the two army clashes, Charlie then says: "Where are you going?! And what are you doing?!" As Maria says: "Like I said before, I'll explain later." Charlie then says: "Explain it to me, now! I need to know what's going on!" As Maria stops in her tracks, she picks up the fallen sword from one of Emily's men as Maria says: "Charlie…" As Charlie wonders what Maria is going to say, Maria walks back to Charlie and proceeds to hand him the sword as she says: "I know that you are wondering about a lot of things. And I will explain everything to you once the whole thing is over. But for now, I want you to trust me." As Charlie is still confused about her words, he ends up grabbing the sword that Maria handed him as she says: "Now follow me, Charlie." As Maria runs into the castle, Charlie says: "Maria!" As he follows her with the three following him.

As the group runs down the hall, Charlie can see the two armies continuing to clash as Maria's men are gaining control. Just then, Maria and Charlie spot three of Emily's men as Maria says: "This way!" As Charlie and his friends follow Maria, Maria continues down the path as she heads towards the throne room. Charlie is even more confused when he sees that Maria is able to navigate through the halls as he says: "How did you know which way to go in this castle?" As the four enter the room, they spot four more of Emily's men as the two on the stairs draw their swords as one of them says: "Face us!" As Maria charges forward with her rapier, Charlie spots the other two of Emily's men charging at him as he gets his sword ready. As Maria and Charlie get into a sword clash, Maria is able to knock one of the soldiers over the railing as the other soldier tries to attack Maria. But Maria manages to dodge as he hits the railing of the stair as it gets stuck, allowing her to knock the soldier down. Charlie on the other hand is busy dealing with the two soldiers as he tries to find an opening to disarm them. Thankfully for him, Maria's soldiers make their way into the room as they easily defeat the two soldiers, causing Charlie to sigh in relief as he says:" Thanks, guys." As Charlie goes up to Maria, they see Emily's men blocking the path as one of them says: "Give up now! We have the advantage!" But Maria is not intimidated as she says: "I won't give up to the likes of you. And unless you're willing to throw away your lives on this losing battle, then lay down your weapons!" As she walks towards them with a serious look on her face, Emily's men start to get scared as they back off.

In the throne room. Reaper brought May to them as he says: "I am back and I have the Princess in my clutches." Emily then starts to laugh as she says: "Good… Good… With her in our grasp, I can now feel safe in running this kingdom unopposed." Maximilian then proceeds to say: "And just in time. I heard from our chambers that she was going to help "save" this kingdom from your "evil" clutches. I can imagine the look on their faces when they see that we have the Princess." Emily then said: "Of course. But we have to teach her some lessons about not messing with us anymore." Hearing that, Razor picks May up with his fist as he says: "You want me to teach this spoiled girl a few lessons?" Emily then says: "Oh sure, but don't be too hard. We don't want her to build up any fighting spirit by mistake…"

"Y-Your highness! Y-You got someone at the door!" Said one of Emily's servants. Emily starts to get angry as she says: "Fine, but this better be important." But when the doors opened, they saw both Maria and Charlie with his three friends as Maria had grabbed the servant. And when the doors opened, Maria shoved the servant aside as the group walked into the throne room as Maria says: "Emily… You will set these people free." This causes Emily to say: "I don't have to take orders from nobodies like you!" Lucard then draws his sword as he says: "Leave them to me, your highness. I'll make quick work of the two." But as Charlie says: "Maria, are you…" But Maria cuts him off as Lucard charges at her. The two cross blades as they face each other in a serious duel. Even though Lucard is quick with his attacks, Maria manages to deflect and attack with quick succession as Charlie, Zeus, Jen and Ruby watch with amazement and worries for Maria's safety. As the two continue to clash as their positions get switch around, Lucard makes a quick lunge at her, only for Maria to knock his sword away as it slides on the ground as Maria defeated Lucard.

"Hold it right there!" As Maria turns around, they see that Razor has May hostage with a dagger to her throat as Razor says: "Listen here. Drop that sword or the Princess will get a new hole that she won't like." And as May says: "Someone… Someone help me!" Maria says: "Your bluffs won't work when you don't even have the Princess hostaged in the first place." Charlie then says: "It's true. That's only May the Double Face pretending to be Princess Maria. It's all a misunderstanding." May then says: "It's true! It's true! I was going to be the Princess at the costume party! It's all true!" But Razor says: "Nice try. But I'm not going to get fooled again." Emily then says: "It doesn't madder. Castle of Espérer now belongs to me. And if you are smart about it, then you will obey my commands." Emily then looks at Razor and proceeds to say: "Now… Get rid of her." This causes May to shout out: "No! No! You're making a big mistake!" But before Razor could make his move, Maria starts to laugh as she says: "Do you honestly think that you have the real Princess Maria, despite the fact that you served under my parents for quite some time?" This confuses Emily as she says: "What? What are you talking about?" Maria then grabs the clothing from her left shoulder as she then says: "That girl is not the real Princess. I'll show you what it means to be a true Princess and how I'll stop your traitorous plans!" Maria then proceeds to rip the clothing that she has as she reveals her Princess outfit to everyone in the room as it shocks everybody. This causes Razor to drop May to the ground as May says: "Thank you! Thank you, your grace!" As Maria cuts the rope, May proceeds to remove the Princess costume from her as Maria says: "Are you okay, May?" This causes a huge shock to Emily as she stands up and says: "How! How did you escape from my assassins!"

But the biggest shock out of all of them is Charlie. He is quite shocked that the Maria that he knew, the Maria that he met in town, the Maria that has a tendency to tell lies, is actually the Princess Maria of Espérer. He is quite lost for words since he believed that she wasn't the Princess, to begin with when she told him the lies the second time they met and when he saw the farm keep chasing Maria. But no matter how many times he can try and figure it out, he can't deny the fact that Maria the Liar is the same Gardevoir as Princess Maria. Emily then proceeds to say: "What are you waiting for! Get her! I want her gone forever!" Just as Reaper, Razor, Lucard and some of her remaining soldiers are ready to face Princess Maria, Maria's soldiers burst into the room with Skarlet as they attack the soldiers. With the soldiers dealing with each other, Skarlet faces off against Reaper and Lucard while Maria deals with Razor and Emily. During the midst of the battle, Charlie grabs May and carries her out of the room as he says: "Let's get you to safety, May." While they head to the exit, Emily's Houndooms go after the group, though they end up crashing into the doors by Charlie closing the door behind them. As the battle continues, Maria says to Emily: "I always knew you had a traitorous heart, Emily! And I will not let you take over my Father's kingdom when I'm still around to defend it!"

Back at the lobby of the castle. Many of Maria's men have captured most of Emily's men as Charlie brings May around the stairs to find a different exit so that they don't get caught up in the conflict. But as they are fleeing, Charlie spots Maria dealing with Emily and Razor as he stays behind to watch. With a misstep from Emily, she ends up grabbing Razor as they trip and fall down the stairs, knocking the crown out of her head as they tumble to the floor below. As few of Emily's soldiers go to her aid, Emily proceeds to say: "Maria! Do not think that you have won! I will make sure that I'll do everything in my power to make sure that this kingdom belongs to me!" Maria then says: "This kingdom will never belong to you. As long as I still breathe, this kingdom and this region will know of you and your traitorous ways. And anyone who is working for you and knows of your traitorous ways will be faced with the same punishments as you." Razor then grabs a leaf-like ball as he says: "You won't get rid of us that easily!" He then proceeds to toss the ball into the ground as the room below is quickly filled with smoke. As Maria's men scramble through the smoke to capture them from escaping, the smoke clears up as it reveals that they escaped, leaving behind a crown for Lionhart. This causes Maria to say: "Search the kingdom for them. Make sure that they don't escape." The army then said: "Right away, your grace!"

As Maria's men search the kingdom, Skarlet comes downstairs as she tells Maria: "Maria! We've rescued the men that have been captured, including Nicole and your parents." Maria turns around as she says: "Good. And what about the assassin and Lucard?" Skarlet then says: "We've captured the assassin as well as Maximillian. But Lucard had managed to escape from us." This causes Maria to say: "I see. Still. Thank you Skarlet. And thank you, my men. Your good deals will not go unrewarded." While that's going on, Charlie is still processing the fact that the Maria that he knew is actually the Princess of Espérer. And on one hand, he should be happy. After all, they did become a couple and they have kissed before. He even remembers all the times that they had fun together. What he should be doing is to go over and embrace her and confess his love to her. But it was then that something appeared in his mind. _What if she's mad at me for the things I said to her…_ It was in fact Charlie himself that gave her the nickname Maria the Liar to begin with and how he dismissed her from the start due to her lies. Not only that, but he also dismissed her as the Princess since he saw her stealing from the royal fields. But now that it is true, what would she say to him after all these times that they have been together. Would she be glad or will she be mad… As Maria looks around, she spots Charlie as she smiles at him as the two stares at each other. But… In the end… His fears won as Charlie bow his head as he says: "I-I'm sorry, miss. Goodbye!" Charlie proceeds to run off, which shocks Maria as she says: "W-Wait, Charlie! Charlie!" But despite her calling out to him, he continues to run.

After the whole ordeal is over and with the night skies shining over. May is driving the carriage back as Zeus, Jen and Ruby sit next to her as they can't believe that Maria is actually Princess Maria. Charlie, on the other hand is sitting in the back of the carriage as he is feeling quite depressed. As May says: "Wow… I never knew my day would be quite an experience. I mean a hostile takeover, me as a hostage. And Maria being the Princess. I've got to say, you must be the luckiest boy in the region to have her as your girlfriend." But Charlie simply said: "That's not the case…" This confuses May as she says: "Huh? You mean the rumour about you and Maria being together is not true?" But Charlie then says: "No… It's that I ended up being together with Maria that I knew… Before today happened…" This confuses May as she says: "Well in that case, why don't you go and be with her? I'm sure that she wants that." But Charlie then says: "You wouldn't know… We introduced you to us when we were good friends. But back then… I wasn't exactly on good terms with her. I mean… She would tell stories about herself… But I didn't believe her for a moment. Had I known that she was a Princess, I would've believed her in an instant and I would apologize for my harsh words against her… But now… I don't even think that she wants to talk to me anymore… I can't be part of her world anymore…" As May realizes the situation that Charlie is in, Charlie starts to remember the times that they've been together. Like how they first met, how they interact in the fountain, how he calls her a liar, how he gave her the nickname, how they help Roberto and Elizabeth get together, how she help him when he was ill, how she taught him how to sword fight, how she was worried for him when they fought off the bandits and how they became a… But that was in the past. _Maria… I'll never forget the moments that we have… But I do hope that you can find your happiness soon… Goodbye… Princess Maria..._


	24. Invitation to the Grand Ball

**The Invitation to the Grand Ball**

At the castle of Espérer. With the news of Emily's traitorous plan exposed in the kingdom, the word was spread around about the kingdom, including how they will be branded as traitors if they decided to work with Emily. And in the courtyard, Maria met up with her parents as they learned some details from Nicole as King Lionhart said: "So… We've learned about how you would sneak out of the castle and disguise yourself as a commoner, is that true?" While Maria is hoping that they wouldn't find out about her secret, she knows that she can't keep it forever so she says: "It is true, Father." Then King Lionhart proceeded to say: "I see… In that case, you must have known about Emily's true nature for quite some time." Maria then says: "Of course, Father. But have I known that she would've gone this far, I would have stopped her plans earlier…" This causes Lionhart to say: "You know… We were disappointed in you for leaving the castle on multiple occasions. And until yesterday, we wouldn't believe you that Emily is plotting to take the kingdom from us." Then both Lionhart and Oracle turn to their daughter as Lionhart then says: "But now. You have proven to us that you matured into a proper princess."

Hearing that has touched her heart as she is glad that her parents are able to see the mature side of her and she's glad that they're safe. "It seems that my lessons had helped her in taking the castle back. It pleases me that you were paying attention to my lessons this whole time." Said a familiar voice that Maria hasn't heard for a long time as she turns around and to her surprise, sees Khan in the courtyard as Maria says: "Khan." As it turns out, when they arrested Maximillian and interrogated him about Emily's plan, they learned about the real reason why Khan was let go and they reinstated Khan as a tutor for Maria and as the King and Queen's assistant in running the castle. Khan then says: "To think that you matured into the proper princess that they want you to is much of an accomplishment than my years as a tutor. Just hearing about it has brought me to tears." As Khan starts to tear up as he grabs his handkerchief as Maria says: "Khan… There's no need to cry, your lessons have really helped me out." Khan then says: "Then if you don't mind me saying this… I would like a suggestion on how we should do this…"

After she meets with her parents, Maria proceeds to go on her practice bout with Skarlet as the two clash blades, while Nicole watches and supervises the bout. As the bout continues, Maria told the two about what happened at the meeting as Skarlet says: "So you agree to the grand ball?" And Maria says: "It's not that I have a choice, I was outvoted so I couldn't refuse." Skarlet then says: "You do realize that they're trying to find you a husband, right?" And Maria says: "Oh, I know." Nicole then says: "Look on the bright side, at least you will be able to see that boy again, Maria." Hearing that has caused Maria to stop her bout as she recalls the event with Charlie yesterday as she looks at Nicole and says: "That reminds me. Do you think that he's mad at me?" Nicole then says: "Hm? What makes you say that?" Maria then says: "Well it's just that when I looked at Charlie yesterday, he suddenly proceeded to leave the castle before I had a chance to say something." Nicole then thinks to herself as she says: "Are you sure that's the case?" While Maria is confused, Nicole then says: "If anything, I would say that he is more shocked about your reveal as the princess, instead of him being mad." It was then that Maria knew what she's talking about. She was so focused on Emily that she revealed herself as a Princess and didn't get to explain to Charlie why she goes out in the first place. It was then that Nicole said: "I'm sure that once Charlie receives his invitation, I'm sure it will put his worries at ease." Maria agrees as she knows she still has feelings for Charlie, regardless if she's a Princess or not. And once Charlie enters the ball, she'll gladly confess her feelings to him.

Meanwhile, at the Lestorm's house. Charlie is busy grabbing the plates from the tables from yesterday's costume party as Zeus, Jen and Ruby are talking to themselves how the Maria that Charlie knew is the same one as the Princess and that the two should belong together. Charlie, on the hand. All he wants is to focus on getting his job done and forget about the events from yesterday. Especially since he feels guilty for the way that he treated the Princess when they first met. As he brings the plates into the kitchen, he overhears Alex and Max discussing the news that was announced earlier as Alex says: "Man… To think that Emily has an ulterior motive to take over the kingdom…" Max then says: "Yeah… I even asked Father about it and even he was surprised that she was plotting to take over the kingdom." Alex then says: "At least our Princess was on to her and put an end to her traitorous plans." Max then says: "Yeah. And soon, I'll be the one to marry the Princess." And Alex says: "That's not going to happen." As the two brothers continued to bicker, Charlie brought the plates over to the counter in the kitchen… Only to drop them on the counter as he stares down at the plates. _Did I… Did I make the right decision yesterday…_

In the town. The citizens were going on with their usual lives when they spotted a bunch of the carrier's carriages as they rode the streets. These carriages proceed to stop at houses as the messengers proceed to pass invitations to the bachelors of the house. It was Khan's idea to run a royal ball and invite all of the eligible bachelors of the kingdom as well as some bachelorettes as they could try and woo the bachelors. Though Khan's main goal is to see if the Princess could find the bachelor that captures her heart. And with Khan's focus on getting the royal ball to be a successful one tomorrow, the messengers are busy handing out the invitations to every bachelors and bachelorette in the town. And once they learned of the royal ball tomorrow, the town became busy as the bachelors are hurrying to find the best suits that they can find and buy.

Back at the Lestorm's house. The messengers arrived at their house as Albert, Alex, Max and Charlie stand in the lobby as the first messenger reads the note he has as he says: "If I may have your attention. I would like to announce that the castle of Espérer is proud to announce that they're throwing a royal ball tomorrow and every eligible bachelor is invited to the castle." As the family's getting excited, the messenger then said: "We would like to invite from Duke Albert's family, both Alex and Max Lestorm's. Please come and receive your invitations." As both Alex and Max nodded, they made their way to the second messenger as they grabbed their invitations, the two looked at their Father as Alex says: "Isn't this amazing, Father?" And Max said: "Yeah. I can't wait to meet the Princess."

As Albert is glad that his sons are getting invited, the messenger then said: "And for the Duchess Nancy's family. We have Charlie Lestorm. Please come and receive your invitation." This surprises Albert, Alex, Max and even Charlie himself as both Alex and Max look at each other as Alex says: "Charlie gets an invitation too?" And Max whispers back: "I'm just as surprised as you are…" This causes Albert to say: "Hold on. Charlie is invited to the ball. There has to be some mistake." But the messenger then proceeds to say: "It is as we said before. Every eligible bachelor is invited to join the royal ball. And I'm quite sure that this invitation is for Charlie." The messenger then looks at Charlie as he says: "Here you go, sir." Even though Charlie is surprised, he nodded as he said: "Okay." Charlie then proceeds to walk towards the messenger as Albert, Alex and Max looked at Charlie with a fierce look on their faces. Once Charlie gets close to the messenger, Charlie grabs the invitation from him as he is still surprised that he is getting invited to take part in the royal ball as he says: "Thank you…".

The messenger then proceeds to say: "And here's your invitation to the ball as their chaperon, Duke Albert." Albert then grabs the invitation as he says: "Well, of course." As Albert, Alex and Max quickly read their invitations, the messenger then said: "Our majesty eagerly awaits for your arrival. We'll be on our way, sirs." As the two bow their heads and take their leaves, both Alex and Max are excited to go to the ball as Albert says: "Stay calm, you two. It's important that we must keep these royal invitations as if we're guarding these with our lives." As the three continue to look at the invitations, Charlie steps outside as he sees the carriage heading off. Charlie then looks at his invitation as he has never expected that he himself would get invited. Just then, he looks up and sees Zeus, Jen and Ruby looking at him as they knew that if Maria was mad at him, she would have not invited him to the ball.

In Charlie's room. Zeus, Jen and Ruby are looking at the details in the invitation as they're glad that Charlie is going to meet Maria again. Just as they wonder what Charlie is going to wear, they look over as they see Charlie pulling an old suit out of one of his luggage. Charlie sees the three curious about the suit as he says: "This is an old suit that my late father used to wear. And it's also the very same suit that brought my mother together during the ball." And as the three were amazed by the suit, it was at this point that it was a point that he's still a nobleman, yet it doesn't feel right in Charlie's mind. Even though it hasn't been a year since he's been with his new family, he felt like he's been doing this for his entire life. As Charlie places the suit to the side, he then grabs a small box from the luggage, which catches their attention. Charlie then turns around as he says: "Here. Let me show you guys something special." He then places the box on the ground and opens the lid as Zeus, Jen and Ruby look at it as they see…

...the glass shoes. This causes the three to be surprised and amazed by them as Charlie explains: "Yeah. These glass shoes belong to my father as well. I remember hearing from my mother how on the day of her wedding, my father would come in a glass clothing to show how pure he is. And although it made my mother smile, the only thing that was left was these glass shoes." This pretty much got the three excited as they can't wait for Charlie and Maria to meet again at the ball. Charlie, on the other hand, proceeds to walk to the window and stare out at the view. I know that they want me to be with Princess Maria again… But she'll be the future queen of Espérer someday. And I don't know if she'll let me run the kingdom with her… If she wants to talk to me at the ball, then I'll gladly talk with her… But I know that once we do, I'll apologize for my cruel actions against the Princess and wished her the best of luck in the future…

In the dressing room, Alex and Max are looking through the suits that they have as they're deciding on what to wear to the ball tomorrow night. As the two are deciding, Max looks at Alex and says: "Man, I can't wait to meet the Princess at the royal ball. Aren't you excited about it, Alex?" Alex then looks at Max as he says: "Of course I am. And I know that you'll be waiting a long time to dance with her when she'll be dancing with me." This causes Max to say: "Oh yeah. We'll see about that." The two then resume their search for the best suits that they should wear. Eventually, Alex grabs a dark blue suit as he says: "I'll go with this suit." Max, on the other hand. He has decided to grab the dark red suit as he says: "I'm sure that this suit would catch the Princess's attention." "Let's hope for your sake that it is." Said Albert's voice as the two brothers look over and see Albert in the room.

Albert then says: "Now listen up Alex and Max. This ball is very important for the two of you. So we must make sure that your looks are at your best if you want the Princess to notice you. Understand?" Both Alex and Max proceed to say: "Yes, Father." Albert then says: "So we must make sure that there are no mistakes with your suits. Charlie!" This causes Charlie to say: "Coming!" Charlie then enters the room with his sewing kit ready as Albert got the boys to get their suits on. And as Alex got his suit on, Albert is pulling hard on Max's belt to ensure that his pants won't fall as Max says: "F-Father… I-I can't breathe…" But Albert says: "Hold it together, Max." Once Albert got Max's belt properly worn, Albert steps back as he takes a look at his sons. He then proceeds to say: "They look fine. But there's a high chance that the Princess won't notice you by wearing them alone. Charlie, write the following things down." Charlie then grabs the paper and a pen a

s he says: "Okay." Albert then says: "For starters... I want you to smooth out his pants here…" And as Charlie writes the details down as he says: "Okay." Albert then says: "Make sure that he has a crest on his bowtie… Put in some pins on each sleeve… Make the laces evenly matched and hidden…" And as Albert continues with his descriptions, Charlie continues to write it down on the papers about the changes he needs to put in their suits.

As the night skies shine over the house, Charlie is busy working on making adjustments for both Alex and Max's suits. Zeus, Jen and Ruby are also helping Charlie out on the suits as they notice that Charlie is behind on his work. As Jen and Ruby are working on sewing the suit with their mouths, Zeus is padding the pants with his body while Charlie is busy working on modifying the suit to match Albert's description. As they continue with their work, both Jen and Ruby are getting annoyed and frustrated as Jen says if Albert is so concerned with making their sons look great, then he should do the work himself. Ruby agrees with Jen as Charlie notices them as he says: "Don't worry. I'm sure that Alex and Max are very grateful for the work." And as Ruby and Jen look at Charlie, Charlie then says: "Sure, they sound ungrateful. But I'm sure that they're just having a hard time expressing how grateful they are."

The next day. Charlie is feeling tired from having to do all of the work as he says: "So… How're your suits…." And as Charlie sees both Alex and Max in their new custom-made suits, Alex says: "Much better." And Max says: "Yeah. Now I can actually breathe in this new suit." While Alex and Max love their new suits, Albert is examining the suits as he notices something as he says: "The lacings are not evenly matched. Though fortunately… These laces are well hidden enough that they won't get spotted from some keen eyes unless they're close." Hearing that, this causes Charlie to say: "Really? If you want. I can redo the lacing." This causes Albert to say: "As much as I want to, I'm afraid that we do not have time for a redo. So they'll be fine for now. However, you still have a lot of work to do. So make sure that their top hats are properly made, their baths ready and make us something to eat." This causes Charlie to say: "Yes, Father…"

In the halls. Zeus, Jen and Ruby are relaxing in the halls when they hear Alex saying: "Charlie! Hurry up with the hat!" And as Charlie says: "Coming!" Max then says: "Charlie! Where're my shoes!" And as Charlie once again says: "Coming!" Albert then says: "Charlie! I need you to hurry up with the meal!" And once again, Charlie says: "Coming!" As this was going on, the three knew that they were demanding Charlie to do all those things as they get ready for the ball, while Charlie is forced to do them while leaving little to no time in preparing himself for the ball. They pretty much believed that they are doing everything they can to make sure that they look perfect in front of the Princess while making Charlie look like a wreck. They then hear Alex and Max yelling out: "Charlie! Charlie! Charlie!"

As the sun is setting. The family had their meal and are ready to head out to the royal ball. With the family finishing any last minute check-ups and Cesar ready with the carriage outside, Albert, Alex and Max make their way towards the entrance with their invitations in their hands as Albert says: "Remember, boys. You must be on your best behaviour when we enter the ball. We must make a very great impression on the Princess if you want to marry her." This causes the two brothers to say: "Yes, Father." But just as they reached the door, they heard a voice saying: "Wait, Father." The three then turn around as they see Charlie on the second floor with his late father's suit and his invitation in his hand. With having to do all of their stuff, Charlie barely has any time to get himself prepared for the ball as he only got his hair done as well as got his suit and glass shoes on as he says: "I can come to the ball too, right?"

Albert then proceeds to say: "And what makes you think that we will be taking you?" Alex then says: "And what's with that ridiculous suit of his?" As Charlie makes his way down, he says: "This suit used to belong to my father… He left it to me in his will." Albert then says: "Are you trying to embarrass my sons in front of the Princess?" This causes Charlie to quickly say: "No! I wasn't going to-" Albert then says: "Aren't you even aware that this ridiculous suit went out of style for years?" Charlie shakes his head as he has no idea as Max then says: "If Charlie came with us, the other guests are going to make him into the biggest laughing stock of the ball." Albert then says: "And when that happens, it'll leave a bad impression on us with the Princess. And that's something we can't afford to make." As Charlie lowers his arms down over the shock of his late father's suit being outdated, Albert sees an opportunity as he says: "This is all you're doing, Charlie. As a result, I cannot let you come to this ball. And to make sure of it…" Albert then swipes Charlie's invitation from his hands and he proceeds to tear the invitation up, which shocked Charlie. Albert continues to tear the invitation up, before proceeding to toss the ripped pieces of the invitation in the air as they scattered. As the scattered pages of the invitation lands on the ground, Albert then says: "For those that don't prepare themselves should never deserve the future. Let's go, boys." Albert then turns around and leaves through the entrance with Alex following him. And as Max stands there in silence at first, he ends up turning around and following the two. Charlie then drops to his knees as he is shocked that after all the times that he helps them, they wound up having his invitation destroyed right in front of him.

In Charlie's room. Charlie sits alone in his bed as Ruby, Jen and Zeus look at him with sadness in their eyes. And they can't blame him, since Albert destroyed his invitation and prevented his chance to meet Maria again and they have no idea how they can help him now. "Don't cry, Charlie. Good fortune is coming your way." Said a familiar voice as Charlie looks up and towards the sound of the voice as he spots Cinder in the room, which caused him to say: "Cinder…" Cinder then says: "It's time for you to get prepared for the most important day of your life, Charlie." This confuses Charlie as he says: "Prepare for what?" Cinder then says: "Why... To go to the royal ball, of course." Cinder then casts her spell from her magic wand as the spell hits a different window, which Charlie didn't know existed, as it reveals a view of the castle of Espérer. This causes Charlie to say: "Castle of Espérer… I didn't know I had the view of the castle the entire time…" Cinder then proceeds to grab the glass shoes that Charlie took off earlier and places them near him as she says: "I'm sure that your Father would have loved to see you in that suit and in these glass shoes." And as Charlie asks: "But how did you know?" And Cinder then says: "Because it was I that gave them to your father as a gift." This surprises Charlie as he says: "Really?" Cinder then says: "Of course. And now he has passed them on to you." Cinder then cast her spell at his glass shoes as it shines brightly. This amazed the four as Charlie goes and tries on the shoes, which fits him perfectly. As Charlie is amazed by the glass shoes, Cinder proceeds to say: "Now… Your suit is pretty much dated, so we'll have to fix that… And I just so happen to have that idea." Cinder then cast her spell as Charlie's suit.

This causes the suit to transform from the old suit to a suit with a fresh fabric light blue suit with black buttons. The sleeves of the suit contain diamond pins with white chaff. The neck of the suit contains a bright white diamond necktie with red emerald coating. And Charlie's hair went from being messy from months of serving the Lestorm's family, to a smooth look with no single strain of hair leaving his body. Once the spell is finished, Zeus, Jen and Ruby are quite astonished by his beautiful transformation as Charlie walks up to a mirror as he says: "Is this… Me…?" As Charlie takes a closer look at himself, he still can't believe that he is looking at himself as he believes that he is looking at a different person altogether. This causes him to say: "I don't know if this is a dream or not, but I'll gladly live this dream to the fullest." And Cinder proceeds to say: "I can assure you, Charlie. This is no dream." As Charlie is enjoying his new looks, Cinder proceeds to head into the kitchen as Zeus, Jen and Ruby follow her. Once there, she looks around as she says: "Now… What to use…:" Cinder then notices the large basket full of some pumpkins as she says: "I can use this." Cinder then notices a hole on the side of the wall near the floor as she says: "And I could use your help." Cinder then casts her spell as the spell drags the four Rattatas out of the hole.

Charlie then leaves the house as he sees Cinder standing with Zeus, Jen, Ruby, a pumpkin and the four Rartatas next to her. Cinder then says: "Now them. It's time for your ride." Cinder then cast her spell at them. The spell lands on the four Rattatas and the pumpkin as it transforms into a royal pumpkin-shaped carriage and four Glarian Rapidashes. The spell also transformed Zeus, Jen and Ruby into humans with carriage's servants uniform on them. With Zeus looking like a veteran soldier, Jen looking like an old mature woman and Ruby looking like a young, beautiful lady, the three look at themselves with astonishment and confusion as Charlie is surprised by the transformation. Cinder then says: "Jen, if you please." Jen then looks at Cinder and says: "With pleasure." Jen then walks over to Charlie as she says: "Let me escort you." Charlie says: "Jen… Is that you…?" Jen then giggles as she says: "Of course." And as Charlie grabs Jen's hand as they head to the carriage, Ruby says: "We're here to help you, Charlie." And as Charlie says: "Ruby… Zeus…" Zeus then says: "Don't worry, Charlie." As Charlie enters the carriage, Cinder casts her spell to reforge the invitation as she says: "Don't forget about your invitation, Charlie." As Cinder hands Charlie the invitation, Charlie says: "Thank you, Cinder." As Jen and Ruby get on the back of the carriage, Zeus sits in front as he starts driving the carriage as he says: "Hiya!" As the carriage drives off, Cinder proceeds to say: "Oh, that reminds me! The spell will run out by the 12th stroke at midnight. So you must make sure that you leave the ball before that happens." Charlie then looks at Cinder as they're driving off as he says: "I will!" The carriage continues to drive on as they head towards the castle.

At the castle. The royal ball is going off without a hitch as the guests are enjoying themselves. And among the guests that are dancing to the sounds of the orchestra, Maria is dancing with one of the guests in the ball. As the dance continues, Nicole and Skarlet are standing by as they watch the dance while Khan is standing by near Lionhart and Oracle as he listens to the rhythm of the orchestra. And of course, many of the bachelors are waiting for their chance to go dance with the Princess. And among the bachelors are Alex and Max as Albert is with them as he whispers to his sons: "Now remember. Once the music has ended, hurry to the front so you'll have the best chance of the Princess spotting you." The two brothers nodded as they whispered back: "Got it, Father." Once the orchestra has ended, they stop dancing as they bow to each other as they take their leaves. Once Maria sits back on her throne, the bachelors, including Max and Alex, hurry over to go meet the Princess. Unfortunately for Alex and Max, they get bundled up with the other bachelors as they end up in the middle of the group, causing Albert to sigh as he says: "They didn't get to her in time…" Outside the castle, the guards are doing their patrolling when they spot the royal carriage heading towards them as they can't help but be amazed by the carriage. Once the carriage reaches the entrance, Charlie steps out of the carriages and heads inside. And once Charlie handed his invitation to one of the officials, Charlie proceeded to head upstairs to join the ball. As he's heading upstairs, he feels like that this is a dream since he would have never imagined that he would be joining the ball. But as he makes his way up, he notices the railing that was slashed from a couple of days ago from that shocking day as Charlie remembers the moment that… But he decides to continue up the stairs as he makes his way to the ball.

In the ballroom. The orchestra is playing different music as Maria sits in her throne as she looks at the many bachelors in front of her, while the guests continue to dance. What Maria is doing is pretty much stalling for time as she looks for Charlie from within the group, since she plans on confessing her love to him at the ball. But she knew that there are still other bachelors that are wanting to dance with her. So she chose some bachelors that she knew that they wouldn't expect anything more than a simple dance. But now that the choices she can safely make are thinning, she knows that she'll have no choice but to dance with someone who expected to be with her. And as Maria says: "I must say that I feel honoured to have you all come to this wonderful royal ball." However, Khan made his way towards her as he whispers to her: "I know that you've been talking with them, but you'll have to dance with one of them eventually." Maria then proceeds to whisper back to Khan: "Do you think they'll notice if I have Skarlet to dance with the guest as me in disguise?" This causes Khan to whisper: "Oh, your highness…" Just then, Maria notices that the guests are crowding around in the back as she wonders what's going on. But when Maria gets a good look, she notices a gentleman with a light blue suit and clean hair as she can't help but say: "Say… Who is that gentleman?" Khan looks and sees the gentleman walking away from the crowd as he says: "To be honest, I have no idea." Maria doesn't know either, but she can't help but find this gentleman to be… Familiar...

This causes Maria to get up from her throne and make her way to the gentleman as she walks past the bachelors, who had a confused look on their faces when she passes them. As she gets close, the gentleman turns around as she gets a good look at him as she notices the red emerald coating bowtie with a diamond crest, as well as his face as she can't help but find him… Charming… And as the gentleman blushes and the orchestra notices this as he prepares to play a different tune, the gentleman bows his head as he says: "Princess Maria. It's an honour that you invited me to join the royal ball." This causes Maria to say: "Pardon me for asking, but have we met before?" And as the guests whispered to each other about this gentleman, the gentleman proceeds to say: "No, your highness." This causes Maria to say: "In that case… Would you like to dance with me?" This causes the gentleman to say: "Of course." This causes the two to get together as the orchestra proceeds with their music. As the music fills the room, the two dance to the melody of the song with grace. I don't know why… He looks like a complete stranger to me… And yet… I feel like I'm dancing with someone I know for all of my life… As the dance continues, Alex and Max return to their Father as Alex says: "I don't believe it. This guy shows up late to the ball and already she's dancing with him." And Max says: "Yeah. What makes this guy so special?" Albert then says: "Stay calm. The night is still young. I'm sure that she'll stop dancing with him and you'll still have your chance." Meanwhile, Khan joined up with Skarlet and Nicole as Khan says: "You know, Maria did say that she wanted you to go in her stead." Skarlet then says: "I guess this is one dance she can handle on her own." Nicole, on the other hand, proceeds to say: "If only we knew who the other dancer is…"

Despite Albert's hope, the two danced for hours. Once the dance finished, the two made their way to a private courtyard as they sat near the fountain as Charlie can't believe that he had danced with her for so long. Charlie then proceeds to say: "You know, I'm glad that we had spent this time together." Maria then says: "Yeah… Though I guess I am a bit sad that he didn't show up." This causes Charlie to say: "Huh? You were expecting someone?" And Maria says: "Yeah… But he didn't show up." As Charlie is shocked to hear this, Maria then looks at him and says: "Maybe he's shy about his dancing skills." Hearing that has caused Charlie to say: "Hey. I wouldn't go that far." The two then looked at each other, then they started to laugh. Maria then says: "Still… I never would have expected that you would be such an amazing dancer." Charlie then says: "Yeah… Though I can imagine you must have some experiences with dancing as a Princess. Having a lot of people loving you..."

"It's not exactly like that." Maria says, which surprises Charlie. Maria then says: "They only love the image of me. The image that I'm some kind of a perfect Princess. The kind of Princess that has no faults whatsoever. And that's not what I want to become." As Charlie is surprised by her words, he ends up saying: "Then… What kind of Princess do you want to be?" Maria then says: "That, I don't know. Which is why I want to find out myself. I know that in the past, I would rather go out and do my own things and have fun instead of doing some important stuff. But now… I want to learn so much about who I am and what I want to do. Instead, I'm here in a ball that I didn't want to go and I ended up wasting my time until you showed up. Which is why I must learn about my responsibilities if I want to help with the kingdom." This surprises Charlie as he never knew this side of Maria before… Granted, she did tell him that she was just an ordinary girl when they met again, but he didn't believe it back then. But when he looks back at the times they've been together, he understands where she's coming from. Especially since he helps her out on some occasions that involve one of Emily's plots. Maria then looks back at Charlie as she says: "Sorry about that. I guess you think that I'm not that kind of princess now…" But Charlie proceeds to say: "No… It's fine…" And just as things are going well, Maria proceeds to lean forward as she goes for the kiss, leaving Charlie to feel his heart beating rapidly.

**BONG!** The first bell has stroked as it catches Charlie's attention and breaks Maria out of hers as Charlie looks up and sees, to his horror, that it's exactly midnight. As it turns out, Charlie lost track of time when he was dancing with Maria and he has forgotten that the spell will run out at midnight. As Maria looks worried as she says: "What's wrong?" **BONG!** Charlie knew he must go now. But as he stands up, Maria quickly grabs his hand as Charlie says: "I'm sorry. But I just remember something important and I must take my leave." And as Maria says: "Wait. Can I least know your name?" **BONG!** Charlie then says: "I know that we have some wonderful moments together, your highness. And I will never forget them." **BONG!** And as Maria says: "Why are you saying as if you're saying goodbye forever? I think that we can become friends." But Charlie pulls his hand away from her as he says: "I'm sorry, but I must go now!" **BONG!** Charlie then runs away as Maria says: "Wait! Come back!"

In the halls, Charlie is quickly going down the stairs as he wants to hurry home as fast as he can. His mind scrambles through what happens if the spell runs out while he's still in the castle. The thought of his Father finding out he went to the ball despite him destroying his invitation and the punishment follows. Or the thought of the crowd angry at him for hogging the Princess all to himself. Or the thought… The thought that Maria will see the real him and would hate him for lying to her for the entire night. **BONG!** With the spell about to run out, Charlie continues to hurry down the stairs. Unfortunately for him, he ends up tripping down some stairs as he ends up losing one of his glass shoes. **BONG!** As Charlie gets up from that, he turns around and sees Maria on the top of the stairs. It was then that he had two choices in his mind. Either go upstairs and grab his shoe, while leaving a good chance that Maria will catch him and prevent him from leaving the castle before the spell runs out. Or he leaves the shoe behind and leaves the risk of having them track the owner of the shoe back to him. **BONG!** In the end, he ends up leaving the shoe behind as he rushes back downstairs as Maria tries to follow him as she says: "Wait!"

Once Charlie reaches the entrance, he rushes towards the carriage as Jen and Ruby are waiting for him as they say: "Hurry!" **BONG!** Once Charlie enters the carriage, Zeus takes off on the carriage as they leave the castle. **BONG! **They continue to ride down the path as they try to hurry back home in time. **BONG!** As they were hurrying back, the spell that was on Zeus, Jen and Ruby had worn out as they reverted to their original selves. **BONG!** Once the twelfth and final bell was struck, the spell worn out as the Galarian Rapidashes returned to being Rattatas, the carriage reverting to a normal pumpkin and Charlie reverting to his original self. Though this also causes the four to be sent flying into the forest as the pumpkin breaks apart as bits of the spell dust leave the pumpkin. In the castle, Maria notices the glass shoe on the stairs as she goes and picks it up. And as she does so, the spell flies off the shoe as she wonders if that came from the gentleman that left her behind. It was then that a thought appears in her mind as she says to herself: "Charlie…?" Outside, the four are staring at the castle as Charlie has only one glass shoe left as pain in Charlie's heart starts to manifesting as they wonder what will happen in the future…


	25. The Pathway to Happiness

**The Pathway to Happiness**

The night of the ball and the events that happened have been the talk of the town. But what really caught their attention was the mysterious bachelor that showed up to the ball and danced with the Princess, before proceeding to leave the ball alone. No one knows who the mysterious bachelor is, nor do they know his status. But they are curious about who this mysterious bachelor is. And in the Lestorm's house. Albert, Alex and Max are in the dining room as they are quite mad that the mysterious bachelor robs his two sons the chance to dance and woo the Princess as Alex says: "I can't believe the nerve of him. Not only did he show up late, but he gets to dance with the Princess all night and leaves in the middle of the night." Albert then says: "I must agree. This bachelor that everyone's been talking about clearly has no honour." Max, on the other hand, he ends up saying: "You know… I think I have a feeling that I've seen that bachelor before…" This catches Alex and Albert's attention as Albert says: "Really? You know who this bachelor is?" But Max ends up saying: "No… I just have this gut feeling, that's all." This causes Alex to say: "Great… We have someone who has a gut for sweet things and he thinks he found out who this mysterious bachelor is." This causes Max to say: "Hey! I least tried to figure out who the bachelor is! What have you done about it!" This causes Alex to say back: "Easy for you to say when you know that you're wrong!" The two brothers then start to bicker as Albert sighs as this will be a long day.

In Charlie's room. Zeus, Jen and Ruby are looking at Charlie with concern as all Charlie is doing is staring at his glass shoe. Charlie, on the other hand. He's been thinking this whole time about the events that had happened yesterday. He has heard about the mysterious bachelor from the townsfolk and he can't blame them, since his appearance yesterday has caught the eyes of many. Including Princess Maria. As he wonders if he should be happy since he did dance with someone that he loves since the two danced for the whole night. A thought would always appear in his mind. _What if she's only interested in the bachelor part of me and not who I am…_ While it's true that he learned some new things about her, it was during the time he was under Cinder's spell and she didn't recognize him. And it was also a fact that she tried to kiss him, even though she doesn't know the bachelor's name. It was because of those facts that Charlie is doubting himself that he should be with the Princess.

As Charlie places the glass shoe back in the box, the weather starts to rain as he then hears Max saying: "Charlie! The rain is starting!" Alex then says: "Hurry up and grab the laundry, or it'll get ruined!" But Charlie is too deep in his thought to respond, let alone stand up and go take care of the laundry. As Max says: "Charlie! Where are you!" And Alex said: "Get down here and take care of the laundry now!" Charlie still won't move or hear their words as he is still in his deep thoughts. Eventually, he hears Max saying: "No! The clothing's ruined!" And Alex said: "This is all your fault, Charlie!" But Charlie remained in his seat. This causes Zeus, Jen and Ruby to look at each other as while they don't know what happened at that ball that caused him to act like that, or how he lost his other glass shoe, they know that they need to find a way to help get him back to his senses.

In the castle of Espérer. Maria is looking at the glass shoe that she grabbed from the stairway yesterday, from the bachelor that she danced with yesterday as she is feeling depressed. Not only did Charlie not come to the ball yesterday, the mysterious bachelor that people are talking about, left her when she tries to figure out who he is. It was then that Maria thought to herself, why did she try to kiss that bachelor yesterday. She wonders if the bachelor that she danced with was Charlie all along, but if that's the case, why didn't he tell her when they were at the ball together. Not only that, the bachelor wounds up leaving her at midnight and saying goodbye to her, even though they met for the first time. It was unknown to her why she went to that bachelor yesterday, nor why she would try to kiss him even though the bachelor wasn't Charlie. It was thanks to those reasons that leaves her rather depressed as she stares at the only clue she has that will lead her to find out who the mysterious bachelor is.

Nearby. Nicole, Skarlet and Khan are looking at her with a concerned look as Skarlet say: "She's been like that, all morning. I've asked her to do something to get her mind off of it about…" Skarlet then counts her fingers on the times she asked Maria on something as Skarlet then says: "About four times. But she doesn't respond to the times that I've asked her." Nicole then says: "Yeah. It's pretty clear that what happened at the ball has to do with this mysterious bachelor that showed up to the ball." Khan then says: "If only there was something that we could do to help her…" Skarlet then says: "Oh, I've got an idea." As both Nicole and Khan look at Skarlet as they wonder what she means, Skarlet proceeds to say: "We'll just have her go out in town and have her celebrate until she forgets about that bachelor." As Skarlet laughs, she ends up getting smacked in the back of the head by both Nicole and Khan as Khan says: "How could you say such a thing, Skarlet. You have no idea what the situation is." As Khan walks away, Nicole says: "If this is your idea of a joke, we're not laughing." As Nicole walks away as well, Skarlet says: "Hold on. I was joking, you guys. I know for sure that Maria is in love with that bachelor."

In the castle's halls. King Lionhart and Queen Oracle have ordered both Nicole and Khan to go find out who the mysterious bachelor is and bring him here. So the two went over and saw if they could find some clues on finding this bachelor. As Nicole waited for her report with the servant she ordered, the servant came back as he said: "We have examined the invitations that have been collected from yesterday. And although there are a few absentees, there are none that match your descriptions, Madam." This was something that Nicole didn't want to hear, but she figured that it would happen as she then says: "And did you hear anything from Khan?" The servant then says: "Yes. Khan said that no one in the castle has ever seen the bachelor before. He was also quite shocked when he heard that news as well." Nicole knows that this is getting serious since she doesn't believe that this mysterious bachelor would vanish out of thin air. But then something came into her mind as she recalls the glass shoe that Maria has as she says: "I wonder if we can use that to find him…"

In Maria's room. Maria is still lost in her thoughts as she wonders what she can do to find him. It was then that Skarlet entered the room as she said: "Hey, Maria. Mind if we chat?" Maria knew that Skarlet is trying to get her mind off of things, but she knew that she can't push her away at the same time. And besides, she figures that she could get her advice, so she says: "Sure…" As Skarlet says: "I'm sure that you're wondering about that bachelor, right?" Maria then says: "Yeah… But, I think I've met him before…" As Skarlet is confused, Maria then says: "It feels like… I've been dancing with Charlie…" But Skarlet then says: "You sure? It's possible you were dreaming that moment." Maria then says: "You say that. Yet it doesn't feel like that. I know I haven't seen that man before, yet it feels like I'm dancing with him the whole time…" Skarlet then thinks to herself as she says: "Well, it's true that you met him for a long time. But…" This causes Maria to say: "But what?" Skarlet then says: "I could be wrong… But it's possible that maybe… Maybe that was nothing more than a manifestation." This confuses Maria as Skarlet then explains: "Well it's just that if you look at it from another angle, it's possible that the bachelor you met was a complete stranger to you. Yet you see him in that bachelor because you were waiting for him all night." It was then that Skarlet had a point. It's true that she was waiting for Charlie and that she's intent on confessing her feelings to him, but there's also a slight chance in her mind that the bachelor she met is actually Charlie himself…

In the throne room. Both Nicole and Khan gave their report to Lionhart and Oracle about the info they found. It was then that Lionhart says: "So in the end, we still don't know who this mysterious bachelor is…" Khan then says: "Do not worry, your majesty. We won't rest until we find out who he is and bring him over." Oracle then says: "Do you have any details that we can go on?" And Nicole says: "The only thing we know is that he's a human male that came on a royal carriage…" It was then that Nicole remembers the glass shoe that Maria has as she says: "There was also the fact that he came in with glass shoes." And while this surprises the two as Oracle says: "Glass shoes?" Nicole then says: "Yes. When the bachelor left the ball, he lost one of his glass shoes on the stairway. I believe that if we can find the other pair as well as the owner of the glass shoes, then we can deduce who the mysterious bachelor is." Lionhart then asks: "And do you think that we can find him with this lone glass shoe?" Nicole then says: "I'm sure. The glass shoe looks custom made, so I imagine that his shoe must match his foot completely." This causes Lionhart and Oracle to think to themselves as they look at each other. The two then nodded as Lionhart looked at them and said: "Very well. We'll send out the news while you'll go and find out who the owner is." Both Nicole and Khan bow their heads as Khan says: "Your wish is our command."

Back in Lestorm's house. Albert is checking on things after he punishes Charlie for ruining the clothing from the rainstorm they had when he notices Alex and Max moping around in the study room. This causes Albert to enter the room and says: "Hey. Why are you two moping around for?" This causes Alex to say: "Have you heard the news, Father…" As Albert says: "News? What news?" Max then explains: "We heard the news from the townsfolk while we were shopping for new clothing. And it's pretty disheartening to hear…" Alex then says: "And that the kingdom is looking for the mysterious bachelor, since the Princess… The Princess…" But Alex couldn't finish his sentence as he fell silent as Albert says: "What? What is it?" Max then says: "It's that… The Princess… The Princess fell in love with the mysterious bachelor." Hearing that shocked Albert as he says: "What! But we have no idea who the mysterious bachelor is!" But Alex then says: "It doesn't matter to her… She's already fallen in love with him…" Max then says: "Yeah… The kingdom has a glass shoe that belongs to the mysterious bachelor and they're going to go to the bachelors that came to the royal ball…" Alex then says: "And the one who fits into the shoe will be the one that gets to marry the Princess… There's no hope for us…"

Hearing that has shocked Albert beyond his belief. The fact that the Princess has fallen in love with someone who's not his son is very shocking. And if he doesn't figure out how to stop this, his chance that his sons would become royalty would vanish from him. But it was then that Albert recalls something important and comes up with an idea as Albert says: "Tell me, boys. Which part of the clothing that they don't notice the most." This causes the two brothers to look at him as Alex says: "What are you talking about, Father?" Max then says: "Yeah, what are you talking about?" Albert then says: "It's important. Because what most people don't notice is the shoes." This causes Alex to say: "Huh?! But I know that my shoes are quite fancy!" And Max said: "Yeah! So is mine!" And Albert replied: "I know, my sons. But they only talk about shoes when they are bad. So there's a good chance that either one of you could fool them into thinking that you were wearing glass shoes." This causes the two brothers to get up from their moping as Alex says: "I see what you mean." Albert then says: "Of course. And even if someone did look at your shoes, the room is brightly lit so they can make a mistake and think that the glass shoes look like normal shoes." This causes Max to say: "You mean… There's still hope for me to marry the Princess?" Though Alex proceeds to say: "What do you mean you'll marry the Princess. It's pretty obvious that it'll be me that marries the Princess." And as Max says: "Oh yeah! Then why-" But Albert cuts the two off as he says: "That's enough, you two. Though I'm glad that you're arguing and not moping around. All that matters is that either one of you fits into that glass shoe and it's a guarantee that you'll marry the Princess and become royalty." Though Albert knows that his plan is not perfect, since it's pretty much him hoping that there isn't someone who has a similar foot as the glass shoe, but he doesn't say that to his sons or they'll go and mope again. But to him, his wish that his sons will become royalty is coming close.

Meanwhile. Charlie is busy ironing out the clothing that was wet from the rainstorm as punishment as Zeus and Jen keep an eye on him. As he is ironing the clothing, Ruby enters the room and tells Zeus and Jen that Maria is looking for Charlie with the glass shoe that he left behind. Hearing that has excited Zeus and Jen as they know that Maria is looking for him as Zeus heads over to pull on Charlie's leg to let him know. But Charlie only looks at Zeus and says: "What is it, Zeus?" As Charlie can tell, they were talking among them about the news that the kingdom sent out as he then says: "If you were talking about the news, they're not looking for me. They're looking for the mysterious bachelor that everyone's talking about." And while he knew that they're trying to convince him that the bachelor is him, he knew that Maria has probably fallen in love with the mysterious bachelor and not him. So he ends up saying: "It's fine, guys… I'm sure that Maria will find someone she'll love… She'll be happy in her life as Queen…"

In the castle of Espérer, Nicole makes her way to Maria's room to grab the glass shoe they need for their search. As she opens the door, she sees Maria looking at the glass shoe as Nicole says: "Maria?" When Maria turns around and sees her, Nicole then says: "I was hoping I could speak with you about the glass shoe." This confuses Maria as she says: "What about it?" Nicole then enters her room as she explains: "Your Mother and Father have requested me, Khan and Skarlet to go out into town and find this bachelor that you danced with and that glass shoe is the only connection we have on finding him." Maria then looks back at the glass shoe as she knows that if she hands Nicole the glass shoe, she'll lose her only clue on finding him. "You worried that we won't find him?" Nicole says as she knows what Maria is thinking. And as Maria looks at Nicole, Nicole goes up to her and says: "I know that you want to go out and find out yourself. But you did do a lot of things to help this kingdom and the citizens. Now let us help you find him for you. I'm sure that it's much safer than doing it yourself." As much as Maria wants to go out and find him himself, just so she can confirm it herself, she knows in her mind Nicole has a point. And she trusts both Nicole and Skarlet with her secret for when she goes out to town. She then knew that it's time that they'll go out instead of her. Maria then proceeds to say: "Very well. I'll trust the glass shoe in your care. It was starting to make me miserable, just staring at it." Maria then picks up the glass shoe and hands it over to Nicole as she says: "Don't worry, Maria. I'll make sure that I will find him."

While Nicole goes to get the glass shoe. Both Khan and Skarlet are in a separate room as they wait for Nicole to grab the glass shoe. As they wait, Khan has been pacing back and forth as he says: "Where do we even start? Where do we even find a good place to go? If only we know a way to do this." Skarlet then says: "Are we even sure he's from around here? It's possible that he may come from a different kingdom?" And as Khan looks at Skarlet, Skarlet then says: "Or maybe he's from a different region altogether." This causes Khan to get angry as he says: "You fool! Don't say such a thing! We must find this bachelor for the Princess by using the glass shoe that he left behind!" This causes Skarlet to say: "Glass shoe? You mean the one Maria found yesterday?" And Khan replied: "Of course. But we need to wait for Nicole to get here so that we can take off on our search."

Once Nicole arrives with the glass shoe and the weather clears up to a beautiful sun, the three head out on the carriage as Khan is holding a pillow with a glass shoe and being covered by a small blanket. And as Skarlet says: "So, where do we start looking?" Nicole then says: "Since our bachelor is a human, we won't have to worry about visiting any Pokemon bachelors. But we still need to visit the majority of the houses." And Khan says: "So we must keep going until we can find the owner that wears the glass shoe perfectly." Skarlet says: "So in other words, it'll take a long time." When they arrived at their first house, the Cerdrom's house, the three are in the room with a bachelor and the Father of the bachelor as Khan says: "As you have heard, we are looking for the mysterious bachelor that had danced with Princess Maria. And when we have found him, that bachelor will be engaged with the Princess." As the Father and son get excited, Khan then says: "And to determine who the bachelor is, we have found this glass shoe so we can determine who the owner is." As Khan removed the blanket to reveal the glass shoe, the two are amazed as Khan lowers himself as he says: "Now, if you please try this glass shoe on." The bachelor is determined to be the groom as he removes one of his shoes as the three watches. And as the Father says: "You can do this." The bachelor proceeds to slip his foot into the slipper. And while he is able to slip in, unfortunately for the bachelor, his foot is too small to be an exact match. This causes Khan to look up and says: "I'm sorry, but it's not an exact match." Hearing this has disappointed the bachelor.

In the Easton's house. The three are in the room with the bachelor and the Father as Khan explains the situation as before as he lowers himself and says: "Now, if you may try the glass shoe." The bachelor then proceeds to slip his foot in the glass shoe. Unfortunately, his foot is too big as it only got in half-way. And as the Father says: "Stay calm, just squeeze through it." With the bachelor saying: "I'm trying!" The three have already seen the result as Khan said: "I'm sorry. But it's not an exact match." The three then continue with their search for the mysterious bachelor. Unfortunately for them, they keep running into bachelors whose feet can't fit into the glass shoe. While a few of them are only too small, the majority of the bachelors' feet are too big to fit into the glass shoe. As the three travel to the next stop, the three are getting depressed as Skarlet says: "You know… I'm starting to believe that this mysterious bachelor did come from a different kingdom…" But Khan then says: "I can understand, but we still have one more house in the kingdom that we need to check out." As the three see a three-storied mansion, Skarlet says: "And whose house are we checking?" Nicole then says: "According to my records. This house belongs to the Lestorm's." It was then that Skarlet recalls the conversation with Maria as she wonders if what she says is actually true.

In the Lestorm's house. Alex and Max are relaxing in the room as Max is enjoying his sweets as Alex says: "Hey, Max. If you keep eating those sweets, you'll end up with a different wardrobe altogether." This causes Max to say: "Nice try. You're only saying that because you fear that I'll fit into the glass shoe and end up in the castle." This causes Alex to say: "Yeah, right… The only thing that will happen is that I'll be the one that will fit into the shoe and you'll have a hard time trying to get Charlie to listen to you." This confuses Max as he says: "Huh? What does Charlie have to do with it?" Alex then says: "Haven't you noticed? Ever since the ball, Charlie has been zoning out from his duties. I think he knows he can't fit into the shoe and he's just acting out." Max then says: "Still… He did lose his invitation… And I can imagine that… Huh?" Just then, they heard a carriage pulling up as both Alex and Max got up from their seats and hurried to the window. And as they see the carriage, both Max and Alex know what to do as they hurry out of the room while shouting: "Father! Father!"

In Albert's room. Albert was heard about the carriage arriving at their home as he turned around and said: "What?! It's here!" Albert then stands up and says: "Hurry and get change, you two! I'll go and take care of the rest!" The two brothers nodded as they hurried to their room to go change. Albert is glad that fate is on his side when the carriage arrives at his home. As Albert thinks to himself about the things that he needs to do since he's already prepared for everything. It was then that Albert said: "I got it. I just need to do one more thing." In the side stairway, Charlie is making his way to his room as he asks: "I was just on my way to my room. Is there something that you need, Father?" And Albert says: "No, no. We got everything covered. Just stay in your room." This confuses Charlie as he says: "Okay…" And Albert then says: "And don't come out until I tell you that you can come out!" As Albert leaves the side stairway, Charlie is even more confused, but he just sighs as he heads into his room. And once Albert hears Charlie going upstairs and entering his room, he grins as he has everything prepared. And even though Albert knew that Charlie didn't go to the royal ball, he cannot take the risk that Charlie's foot would fit in the glass shoe.

In the living room. The family has changed into their suits as Khan, Skarlet and Nicole are in the room together. And as Khan says: "Now, I take it you know why you're here?" Albert replied: "Of course. I heard it from my lovely sons. You're here to search for the mysterious bachelor that has captured the heart of the Princess. And to determine who it is, you'll check and see if the bachelor in the house can wear the glass shoe. Well, I can assure you that there's a good chance that one of my sons was the one that danced with the Princess." As the two brothers nodded, Khan proceeds to lower himself with the glass shoe as he says: "In that case, please try on the glass shoe." This causes the two brothers to say: "Of course!" As the two brothers make their way to the glass shoe, they both put their foot out to try it on. But Khan simply looks at the two as he says: "I'm afraid that there's only one glass shoe. So someone will have to go first." This causes Max to say: "In that case, I'll go first!" But Alex proceeds to say: "No, you won't! I'm the oldest, so I'll go first!" This causes Max to say: "No you won't! Besides, haven't you noticed already, Alex!" As Alex looks confused, Max then said: "This glass shoe looks custom-made. There's no way that it'll fit you." But Alex then says: "You only say that because you saw it from the distance, so I know that you won't fit in this glass shoe!" Max then says: "I know that it won't fit you!" Alex then says: "In that case, I'll go first, then!| And Max says: "No you won't!" And as the two brothers get into another bickering argument, Khan sighs as this is going to be a long time. As the two brothers argue, Skarlet proceeds to whisper to Nicole: "I know that they haven't tried on the shoe yet, but I already know that it won't fit the two of them." Nicole nodded as she knew the result as well.

Outside. Zeus, Jen and Ruby are watching what's going on in the living room as they notice that Charlie is not in the room. Jen figures that Albert must have forced Charlie into his room so that he won't try on the shoe and show that it was him that danced with the Princess. And as Ruby wonders why is Charlie going along with Albert's plan if he knew that the glass shoe won't fit either Alex or Max. Zeus then believes that something must have happened at the ball that caused him to be scared about what Maria would think about him. And while Jen and Ruby wonder what Zeus is talking about, Zeus says that he doesn't know but they need to help Charlie out or his opportunity to be with Maria would vanish in front of his eyes. Ruby and Jen agree as Ruby will go grab Charlie from his room while the two will keep an eye on them and distract them, in case they want to leave. Jen and Zeus agree as Ruby hurries over to his room.

After much debate, it was decided that Max will go first. As Max sits on the chair, he proceeds to say: "I would like to thank you guys for bringing back my shoe. I was in a hurry to head home, and I accidentally lost my shoe. Now if you excuse me." As Max prepares to slip his foot in, Albert, Alex and the three watches as they see if he fits into the glass shoe. And when Max slips his foot in, his foot ends up getting stuck most of the way in as Max says: "Huh? That's odd… I could've sworn that it would fit." As Max continues to push his foot in, Albert says: "Stay calm, Max. You can do this." And Max replied: "Y-Yes, Father…" Alex then proceeds to taunt: "What's wrong, Max? Too many sweets today?" As Max ignores him, the three are convinced that his foot doesn't fit, Khan proceeds to say: "I think we should let your brother try the shoe on…" But Max says: "No, no. I almost got it in. It's just that… I need to…" As Max's heel almost reaches to the edge of the shoe, Albert says: "Come on, you're almost there." Max then lets out a yell as he uses his strength to push his heel in. This resulted in the heel slipping into the glass shoe, which has shocked everyone as Albert says: "It fits! The shoe fits! This mysterious bachelor is none other than my son, Max!" The three are quite shocked as well as the three are convinced that it was Max that danced with Maria on the night of the ball this whole time.

Unfortunately, this fantasy ends when Max lets out a painful yell as his foot gets out of the glass shoe as he falls forward to the ground. This causes the glass shoe to fly in the air as Khan panics as he grabs the shoe to prevent it from being destroyed and losing their only clue. As Khan sighs in relief, Skarlet comforts Max as she sees his foot is blistering red as she says: "Are you okay?" Max then says: "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts." Alex, on the other hand, is too busy laughing his butt off as he says: "Oh man, that was quite golden! It's such a hilarious moment to behold! I knew it from the start that Max won't fit into the glass shoe!" As Alex continues to laugh, Albert sighs that Max couldn't keep the pain in as he'll have to rely on Alex to fit his foot into the glass shoe, so that he can go and marry the Princess.

In Charlie's room. Charlie has been thinking to himself about the events that have happened to him. _Is it… Is it right for me to not see her again…__** Then again… She was about to kiss the mysterious bachelor…**__ But… What if she sees me as the mysterious bachelor…__** But there's a good chance that she will be mad at me for not revealing that detail sooner…**__ But I'm worried… What if… What if she's sad that I'm not there… __**There's a good chance that she will find her happiness without me. She'll be the Queen of the castle someday…**_ As Charlie continues to think to himself, Ruby enters the room and tug on Charlie's leg to try and get him out. But Charlie ends up saying: "Leave me alone… Father told me to stay here…" And as Charlie looks up and sees Ruby continuing to pull on his leg, he figures that she was trying to get him to come down and get him to try on the shoe and show them that he's the mysterious bachelor. So Charlie ends up saying: "It's fine, Ruby."

Back in the living room. It's Alex's turn to try on the glass shoe as he says: "Sorry about my brother. I'm sure that he gave you a good show. Now allow me to show you that the shoe belongs to me." As Alex slips his foot in as they watch. And like before, Alex's foot gets stuck in the shoe. And unlike Max, Alex's foot only got halfway in as Albert says: "You can do this, Alex." And Alex replying: "O-Of course… Father…" And Max says: "Don't bother. It's already pretty clear that he won't fit in the shoe." But Albert proceeds to say: "Quiet, Max! Don't let the pain beat you, Alex. You can do this." But the three have already seen enough as Alex continues to struggle to get the glass shoe on and Albert saying: "Come on! Push it in!" But Khan ends up grabbing the shoe from Alex as he says: "I believe that your other son is correct." As Khan takes it away, Alex ends up rubbing his sore foot as Khan then says: "It looks like neither Max nor Alex's foot can fit in this glass shoe." Realizing the situation's getting worse, Albert goes up to them and says: "Pardon me. But… Have you considered that it was I that danced with the Princess?" This shocks the three as well as his sons as his sons say: "Father!" Albert then quickly realized what he just said as he ends up laughing as he says: "Oh, just kidding you around. It was just a simple joke." The three then felt relief as Khan says: "Then I must say, you tell an excellent joke, Duke Albert."

It was then that Nicole spoke up as she said: "Pardon me for asking. But do you happen to have three sons?" This catches the three off guard as Albert says: "No. I've always had my two sons living here with me." This causes Skarlet to say: "Oh, really…" Skarlet then proceeds to flick her wrists as some papers appear from thin air as she then says: "Cause according to these records, there were four invitations sent here. Three of them to the three of you. And one invitation to the bachelor called Charlie Lestorm." This causes Albert to stutter as he then says: "W-Well… To be honest with you, I do have a boy that goes by that name. But he's more of a step-son than an actual son." This causes Khan to say: "Then, in that case, we will let him try on the glass shoe." As Zeus and Jen are happy that Charlie will get to try on the shoe, Albert proceeds to say: "I wish that was the case. But I must inform you that he did not go to the royal ball, so it will be impossible for him to try on the glass shoe. Besides, he knows nothing about the royal kingdom and I am quite confident that Princess Maria will have no interest in that boy at all." As the two brothers nod in agreement, Nicole gets angry as she says: "It is not up to you to decide who will wear the shoe or not, nor is it up to you to decide who will become the Princess's groom. Our orders are to check every bachelor and see if they could wear the shoe. And if we were to find out that you have anything to do with Charlie not coming to the ball, we will throw the three of you in the dungeon." Even though Nicole is bluffing about the last part and Khan and Skarlet know this, Albert and his sons start to get scared if they discover what happened yesterday. It was then that Albert said: "Very well, I'll bring him over."

As the three wait for Charlie to get here, Nicole is feeling confident that Charlie will be the one that fits in the glass shoe and will help get the two of them together. And when they see Albert entering the room and joining his sons at the side of the room, Charlie enters the room as he makes his way up to them. However, the three noticed that Charlie doesn't look happy to be in the room. As Charlie stands in front of the three, Alex whispers to his Father: "Father… Are we really going to let him try on the shoe?" And Albert whispers back: "We don't have much choice, Alex." And Max then whispers: "But what if he does fit in the glass shoe?" But Alex whispers back: "No way. We know Charlie didn't go to the ball." But Albert shushes the two as Khan then says: "Now, I understand that you know why we're here. But I must ask you something. Is it true that you didn't go to the ball yesterday?" Charlie was hoping that he would avoid the situation, but now that he has no choice, he'll answer them the truth as he says: "It is true. I did not go to the ball yesterday." While this shocks Nicole and surprises Albert and his family, this also shocks Zeus, Jen and Ruby. _**It is the truth… It was that bachelor that went to the ball… Not me…**_ Seeing this as an opportunity, Albert proceeds to say: "As you can see, he is telling the truth. He did not go to the ball." Nicole then says: "Then, in that case, you wouldn't mind trying on the shoe so we can confirm it ourselves." But despite Zeus, Jen and Ruby's plea for Charlie to try on the slipper, Charlie ends up saying: "With all due respect. If I wasn't at the ball, then how could I fit into the shoe." This shocks Nicole as Khan says: "Very well. I do appreciate your modesty." Khan then lifts the pillow with the glass shoe. _**It is for the best… I'm sure Maria will find her happiness…**_

As the three take their leave in the carriage, Albert and his sons watch them off as the carriage drives away from their home. It was then that Alex said: "Why did you have to give me such big feet, Father!" And as Albert is shocked to hear this from Alex, Max then says: "Yeah! We could be in the castle if you gave us the proper feet to fit in the glass shoe!" But Albert is having none of it as he says: "That's enough, you two! I'm disappointed in the two of you! You could have suffered through the pain and you'll end up becoming royal. But because the two of you gave up from a slight amount of pain, that chance is now gone!" As Albert enters the house angrily, the two brothers enter the house as they said: "Father!" With Zeus, Jen and Ruby watching the carriage going away, both Jen and Ruby are shocked that Charlie would blow his opportunity away. But Zeus ends up saying that it's not over yet. As this catches Jen and Ruby's attention, Zeus then says that they need to see the reason that Charlie is at the ball and to do that, they'll need to grab Charlie's other glass shoe."

In the kitchen, Charlie is busy making some tea for Albert and his family after that outburst from earlier. As he makes the tea, he feels that the pain from his heart is getting worse than before despite the fact that in his mind, he had made the right choice. After all, he had managed to escape from a situation that would make things worse for his relationship with his family. But as he's making the tea, he hears someone going upstairs. And when he looks over, he sees Jen and Ruby in the kitchen. As the two proceed to rub his legs as Charlie says: "What are you two doing… I have to take care of this first." But just as he was about to focus on the tea, his eye spotted Zeus heading back downstairs as he turned to Zeus and said: "Zeus? What are you-" But when Zeus stops, Charlie sees something that shocked him. And that Zeus is holding on to the box that contains his other glass shoe. This was something that Charlie did not want to happen as he says: "Wait, Zeus! What are you doing?!" As Zeus takes off, Charlie tries to stop him, Jen and Ruby manage to stop him enough to allow Zeus to escape. And as Charlie reaches the doorway outside, he feels the pain of his heart intensifying even worse. _Why… Why are you doing this… Why would you do something like this…_

As the carriage drives off, Khan proceeds to say: "It looks like this mysterious bachelor is nowhere in this kingdom. We'll have to go out and search the other kingdoms for him." And as Skarlet says: "Yeah… This is going to be much longer than expected…" Nicole has been thinking to herself as Skarlet took notice as she says: "Is there something wrong, Nicole?" Nicole then says: "Have you guys noticed anything wrong with Charlie?" Khan then says: "What makes you say that?" Nicole then says: "Normally, he isn't like that at all. He's usually more honest than that." Khan then says: "While I must admit, I have not seen that boy before, so I wouldn't know him myself. He did say that he did not go to the ball yesterday. And unless we have found proof that the glass shoe belongs to him, we must continue with our search." Nicole then says: "I suppose…" And as they continue to head off, Skarlet notices a Mightyena catching up to them. But what Skarlet then notices is the box that the Mightyena is carrying in its mouth as she leans out the carriage as she says: "Hey! Stop the carriage!" The driver then proceeds to stop the carriage, forcing Khan and Nicole to slide forward as Khan holds on to the glass shoe. And as Nicole says: "What are you doing, Skarlet!" Skarlet exits the carriage as she looks at the box and says: "What do you have here, boy?" As she grabs the box from the Mightyena, Khan and Nicole look out as Khan says: "Do you know who that Mightyena belongs to?" And Skarlet says: "Yeah. I remember hearing that this Mightyena belongs to the boy that Nicole said earlier." And when Skarlet opens the box, she is quite shocked at what she finds inside. And that's the second glass shoe. As both Nicole and Khan exit the carriage, Skarlet says: "It's the second glass shoe! We found the second glass shoe!" This shocks the two as they head over and sees what Skarlet is talking about. This causes Nicole to smile as she says: "It looks like we have our proof. We now know that this mysterious bachelor is none other than Charlie Lestorm."

Back at the Lestorm's house. The three returned home as they stood in the lobby, after making Albert fetch Charlie again. And as Albert stands there with his sons, Charlie stands alone in front of the three as Zeus, Jen and Ruby watch from outside as they hope that Charlie will finally put on the glass shoe, now that the three are convinced that he's the mysterious bachelor. Alex then whispered to his Father: "Father, what's going on?" And Albert whispers back: "I don't know. They suddenly came here and requested that Charlie should try on the glass shoe. Why would they waste their time when they already know the answer." It was then that Max notices the glass shoes as he whispers: "Hang on… Wasn't there only one glass shoe? Where did they find the other glass shoe?" Khan then says: "I know that you said that you weren't at the ball. But now we must confirm if what you said is true, we would like for you to try on the glass shoes." But Charlie remains still. He knows that he can't try and convince them that it wasn't him at the ball, since they have his other glass shoe. It was something that he wanted to avoid, so he just stands there as he remains silent. Nicole then notices this as she wants to know what's eating Charlie away. So she walks up to him and as Albert and his family notices this, Charlie notices her close as Nicole says: "Pardon me. But I must check something out." Nicole's hands began to glow as she placed her hands on Charlie's head before Charlie could have the chance to move.

It was one of her techniques that she uses to check out what's eating their mind. And while she would normally use this to help Princess Maria when she was a young Kirlia, she knows that this is something she must do to help him out. And when she enters Charlie's mind, she sees the memories that he has, including the times that he was with Maria when she was in her disguise. But what also catches her attention is the fact that Albert has forced Charlie to be their servant while his sons get to live the noble's life. And then she saw the moment in his memory where Albert destroyed Charlie's invitation right in front of him. This confirms in her mind the reason why Charlie didn't go to the royal ball, but she'll have to deal with it later as she heads further down the memory. And when she reaches down the memory lane, she discovers a shocking display. What she saw is a visual image of Charlie as he is being chained up by some chains as he's trapped on the wall. It was then that Nicole realized the problem that Charlie is dealing with. And that he's feeling guilty for the way that he treated her and the fear of her being mad at him. It was then that Nicole needed to fix the situation at hand if she wanted Charlie to be with Maria.

It was then that the visual image of Charlie then notices Nicole as he says: "W-Who's there…" Nicole then says: "Hello, Charlie. I apologized for entering your mind, but I'm here to help you with the situation at hand." Charlie then looks down as he says: "H-Help… But… I… I…" Nicole sees that he was struggling to speak as Nicole says: "Are you having trouble speaking? Is it because you're worried?" Charlie remains silent as Nicole says: "I guess you were worried about what your friend is going to say to you." It was then that Charlie said: "But… How… How can I face her…" Nicole then says: "I know that you were shocked that she was the real Princess. But I can assure you that she doesn't have any grudges against you." But it was then that Charlie said: "You say that… Yet… Yet… Yet how can I face her when I've been lying to her on the day of the ball." This surprises Nicole as Charlie then says: "I don't like liars… And yet… When I met her… I lied right in front of her... I could've told her the truth… But… I ended up lying to her… And now… She ends up trying to kiss me as someone else and not me… How… How can I face her with all of that going on…" Nicole hears what he has to say as she admits it's not as simple as she thinks. But she proceeds to say: "I know you're worried… But you have to know that when you were dancing with Maria, she was thinking about you the whole time." This shocks Charlie as he looks at her and says: "She did?" Nicole nodded as she said: "I know you may think she's mad. But there's no changing the fact that she has a place for you in her heart. It all depends on what you want to do." As Charlie thinks to himself, Nicole starts to vanish as she then says: "If you feel that Maria doesn't want to be with you, then I'll respect your decision. But if you do love her, then put on the glass shoes and show that you were at the ball." And with that, Nicole vanishes from his head.

Hearing her words has put Charlie in a state that he does not know what to do. He feels guilty for lying to her and deceiving her since the ball, and yet he does not know why he lied to her. He worries that she will be mad at him for the times that he mistreated her with her constant lies. He fears that she has fallen in love with the mysterious bachelor. But it was then that Charlie realized something. He was scared, scared of what Maria sees in him. It was his constant worries of what she thinks that built this fear inside him. He was scared that he would be rejected by her, so he would rather avoid the problem rather than facing them. And it was this that caused him to keep himself away from her friend. From the friend that they spent time together. From the friend… That he loved. It was then that he knew he was still in love with Maria. He was in this state of fear for so long, he has forgotten that they were a couple, even before Charlie knew her as a Princess. And it was then that he realized that she must be miserable since he wasn't there. He then concluded. He will go to see Maria and let her know how she feels. Even if there's a chance that she will be mad at him and tells him that she doesn't want to see him anymore, he will still let her know that he loves her. With his confidence made, Charlie grabs hold of the chains that bound him as he proceeds to pull hard on them. _Maria… I feel your pain… I feel your sadness from the time I left you… Well now I won't run anymore… I'll come to you, not as the mysterious bachelor, but as myself… And that is why… I love you, Maria… _Using the ounce of his strength, he breaks apart the chains that bounded him.

Outside. Zeus, Jen and Ruby are watching what's going on inside as they see Nicole's hand on Charlie. They're worried that Charlie would try and blow his opportunity again as they wonder what to do. It was then that they heard a voice saying: "Hello, friends." They turn around and see Cinder with a basket of food as she then says: "I hope you don't mind if we can share a meal." It was then that the three realized that she can help him as they hurry over to Cinder, which catches her off guard as she says: "Huh? What is it?" After hearing what they said, Cinder takes a look through the window as she sees Nicole stepping back and returning to her original spot. It was then that she looks at Charlie as she notices Charlie's has decided on what to do, which causes her to smile as she says: "It looks like Charlie doesn't need my help. But I'll gladly assist him." While this confuses with Zeus, Jen and Ruby, Charlie opens his eyes as he takes off his shoes. Cinder then proceeds to cast her spell just as Charlie slips his feet into the glass shoe. This results in his feet slipping into the glass shoes perfectly as the spell lands on Charlie. This surprises the three as it shocks Albert, Alex and Max.

It was then that the spell took place as it helps Charlie remember the wonderful time he had when he was in the royal ball with the help of Cinder's spell. Albert and his family, however, were still shocked that Charlie somehow manages to fit into the glass shoes. As his memory ends, the three look at Charlie as Nicole says: "It looks like we have finally found our mysterious bachelor. I am sure that Princess Maria will be glad when she sees you." Nicole then walks back up to Charlie as she extends her hand as she says: "Now… Let me bring you to the castle, Charlie Lestorm." Charlie nodded as he took her hand as they headed towards the carriage with Khan and Skarlet following them. While Albert says: "I… I… I don't believe it…" Max said: "Charlie was the mysterious bachelor the whole time…" And Alex said: "How… How did he get into the royal ball…" As the three are dumbfounded by the shocking discovery as Charlie enters the carriage with the three.

As they make their way to the castle. Charlie's heart has finally healed from having to avoid his fear of the one he loves being angry with him. It's as if he became a new man. He knows in his mind that the old life that he has is gone. Even if Maria were to reject his love and that he has to return to his home, he'll be living in a new life from now on. And as Charlie looks at Skarlet, Nicole and Khan, he can tell that they're glad to have found him and they believe that she will be happy with him. And as the carriage goes over the bridge, Charlie sees the castle in the distance as he's ready to start his new life. _Ever since my mother remarried, I've been living in a different life than what I used to. I thought that things were going to be hard. I thought that I would lose the place that I call home. But when I've accidentally bumped into you, I would have never imagined all things that happened up to this point… And… I'm glad to have gone through them with you… Cause now… I'm coming back to see you… Maria._


	26. Charlie and Maria's New Life

**Charlie and Maria's New Life**

In the Castle of Espérer. Maria is walking down the halls as she still pounders on who the mysterious bachelor is. So much so that it's starting to suffocate her, just by standing in her room. She was hoping that walking around the castle would help give her some breathing room. Unfortunately for her, she still feels like she's being suffocated by the castle's walls. And even though her parents knew about her secret, she knows that if this continues, she'll have to leave the castle just so she can get some fresh air and be away from the castle. But before she could get the chance, she hears a carriage coming as she looks out and sees the carriage that Nicole, Khan and Skarlet are on. This causes Maria to wonder if they have found the mysterious bachelor as she heads down the hall as she makes her way to the entrance of the castle.

Once Maria makes her way to the entrance, she sees the carriage stopping in front of her as she sees Nicole, Khan and Skarlet stepping out of the carriage. The three then look at Maria as Nicole says: "Princess, I believe it's time that you meet this mysterious bachelor." And as Maria sees someone coming out with the glass shoe on his foot, her heart skips the beat when she sees Charlie stepping out of the carriage as she says: "Charlie… So it was you that danced with me on the night of the ball." And as Charlie gets on the ground, Maria proceeds to run up to him and embrace him, which catches Charlie off guard, as she says: "I was so worried that I did something that made you mad." Charlie was surprised by her words as Charlie then says: "I'm sorry. But at that time, I thought that you were mad at me for the things I said to you." This causes Maria to look up at Charlie and says: "I'm not mad at you. I'm glad that I get to see you again. Because… Because I want you to know that I love you, Charlie." Hearing that has touched Charlie's heart as he hugs her back as he says: "I love you too, Maria…" The two continue to embrace each other as the others are glad that the two are finally reunited when they confess their love. Eventually, Maria looks back up at Charlie as she says: "Come. Let me introduce you to my parents." The two then make their way inside the castle as the three remain by the carriage.

In the throne room. Maria and Charlie enter the room as Charlie sees a Gallade and a Gardevoir on the thrones. And while this is the second time Charlie enters the throne room, it is his first time meeting the actual King and Queen. As they walk forward, Maria proceeds to say: "Father. Mother. I would like to introduce you to Charlie." Lionhart then proceeds to say: "It's an honour to have finally met the bachelor that had captured the heart of our daughter, Charlie." And as both Lionhart and Oracle proceed to get off of their thrones, Charlie bows his head as he says: "And it's an honour to meet you, your highness." But Oracle giggles as she says: "There's no need for formalities, Charlie. You'll soon be our son-in-law." And Lionhart says: "And it's a good thing you met her and kept her on a good path. Who knows what she would do if she hadn't met you." This causes Maria to blush as she says: "Oh, Father..." Lionhart then says: "Now then… Allow me to arrange the wedding." And when Lionhart snapped his fingers, the servants and maids entered the throne room, carrying some smooth fabrics, as they surrounded Charlie and Maria. The servants and maids then proceed to measure both Charlie and Maria as well as compare the fabrics so that they can design their wedding clothes.

In the town. The citizens are going on with their usual business when they hear a voice nearby saying: "A royal wedding has been announced! A royal wedding has been announced!" The citizens turn to the source of the voice as they see a messenger on a Zebstrika as he holds a lot of posters that are flying out of his hand as the messenger says: "A royal wedding has been announced! King Lionhart for a royal wedding for his daughter, Princess Maria and the nobleman, Charlie Lestorm! Princess Maria is getting married to Charlie Lestorm! All are welcome to join in the festivities of the Royal Wedding!" As the posters scatter on the ground, the citizens proceed to pick up the posters as they see the details about the wedding as they get excited for the royal wedding tomorrow.

At the pier. A ship is pulling up on the deck as word about the Royal Wedding hits them. As the ship docks, noblemen and noblewomen leave the ship as they hear the commotion going on. And when the ambassador leaves the ship and hears the commotion, he says: "What's going on here?" As Nancy also leaves the ship, since her exhibition trip has ended, one of the crewmates from the pier told the ambassador: "From the sounds of it, they're having a Royal Wedding at the castle." This causes the ambassador to say: "A Royal Wedding? You mean the Princess is going to marry someone? Who's the bachelor?!" Before the worker could have the chance to speak, they noticed posters flying in the air. As the noblemen and noblewomen grab the posters to look, the ambassador grabs the poster and looks at it as he sees the details, while saying: "I see. This man surely is blessed to have received the hand from the Princess." Nancy is also curious about the Royal Wedding as she grabs one of the posters in the air as well. But when she looks at the poster, she sheds a tear as she sees not only a picture of the Princess but also her son Charlie. This causes her to say: "My sweet little guy… You've grown to be quite a respectable Prince…" As she leaves the pier, she can't wait to go meet her son and is hopeful she would get the chance to meet her daughter-in-law. And as one of the posters lands on the ground of the pier, someone steps on it and rubs it.

In the Lestorm's house. With the day of the Royal Wedding happening today, Cesar is set to bring Charlie's stuff from the attic and to the carriage. Among them are Alex and Max, who are busy carrying Charlie's stuff down to the lobby, while Zeus, Jen and Ruby help Charlie out by bringing in the smaller stuff that they can carry. And as Alex says: "Man… How much stuff does Charlie have…" Max then says: "I don't know. But it would've made moving easier if he had your room, Alex." This causes Alex to say: "Hey! Who was it that bragged about having the best room in the mansion?!" And Max says: "Yeah, you seem to brag about your room being the biggest, yet you won't share a room with Charlie." And as they put one of the boxes full of Charlie's stuff as Alex gets mad, when Max says: "Speaking of which, where's Charlie?" As Alex says: "Yeah, where is he?" The two then split off as they search for Charlie as Max says: "Hey, Charlie. The carriage is about to come. You don't want to be late for your wedding." As Max enters the kitchen as he says: "Charlie?" Max then notices Charlie writing something down while he wears a suit from when he first enters the mansion. Charlie then notices Max as he says: "Hey, Max. Since I'm going to be marrying Maria, I'll write the stuff down to help you out so you can avoid the disaster from the time I was sick." Charlie then grabs a book as he says: "I also have the cookbook for you so that you'll know how to cook supper."

"Charlie." Says Albert as Charlie notices Albert standing by the servant's entrance as Charlie is wondering what Albert would do as he knows that there's still a chance Albert would try and stop him. But much to his surprise, Albert enters the kitchen as he says: "I know that we gave you such hardship for when you were sick. But we can handle it from here." Alex then enters the kitchen as he says: "Yeah, we have to learn eventually." Max then says: "Besides, you're going to become a King. And we must do this on our own." Charlie is glad to have heard how they are taking responsibility. Though Max then remembers the times they treat him with cruelty as he says: "Still… Are we invited to your wedding?" And as Alex quickly jab Max's side as he tries to keep Max quiet, Charlie says: "Of course you're all invited." Even though they have treated him with cruel things, they are still his family after all. Hearing that has excited Alex and Max as Alex says: "Alright!" Albert then says: "Charlie. There's something I would like to give you." And as Charlie looks at Albert as he hands Charlie a crested brooch as Albert says: "It's a gift for you on this special day. I'm sure that you make us proud." This really touches Charlie's heart as he ends up hugging his Father. This catches Albert off guard, but then he ends up hugging back as Charlie feels like they're a real family again.

"It's a surprise that you're here, Duchess Nancy." Cesar says, which catches the family's attention as they then heard: "I'm more surprised myself, Cesar. It's not every day where I heard that my son is going to get married to the Princess." Hearing that voice, Charlie recognizes who it is as he hurries to the main lobby and to his surprise, he sees his Mother and Cesar together. And when Nancy looks at Charlie, Charlie says: "Mother…" Charlie then runs up to her and hugs her as Charlie says: "I never knew that you will be back so soon, Mother." And Nancy says: "And I never knew that my own son is marrying the Princess." Charlie then says: "Yeah. Maria is such a lovely girl." This causes Nancy to say: "In that case, I should bring a wonderful gift for the two of you." But Charlie proceeds to say: "Oh, Mother. You returning home safe is all I ever need." As Albert and his sons join them, Albert notices Zeus, Jen and Ruby as he then looks at Charlie as he says: "If you want, Charlie. You can have Jen and Ruby." This surprises the family as well as Charlie, Zeus, Jen and Ruby as Charlie says: "Really?" Albert then says: "Of course. I know that if they stay with me, they would be miserable without you." This causes Charlie to smile as he says: "Of course, Father." This causes Zeus, Jen and Ruby to smile as they run up to Charlie and snuggle up to him as Nancy giggles as Charlie makes some new friends with Jen and Ruby. Once the Royal Carriage arrives, Charlie enters the carriage as they drive off with his stuff in the other carriage. And as they drive off, Charlie waves to them as he says: "Goodbye, Mother. Goodbye, Father. Goodbye, brothers." The family waves back as the carriage drive away. Once the carriage vanishes from their view, Albert then looks at his sons as he says: "Okay boys. We must get our best suits on if we want to show our support to Charlie." The two brothers then look at Albert and say: "Yes, Father!"

With the wedding coming near, the guests are making their way to the castle so that they can experience the wedding between Maria and Charlie. Among the guests are noblemen, noblewomen, families, performers and entertainers as they walk to the castle. Though, also among the guests are four figures wearing blue masks with brown hair as they walk together with the two Houndooms. While the guests are making their way to the castle, things are busy in the castle's courtyard. In the courtyard, the maids are busy setting up the tables, putting the covers on the tables and plating the foods on them that the chefs made. As the maids are busy, the two guards are doing their jobs in the halls of the castle. As they guard, they see and let pass the Lestorm's family, as well as Cesar, Cinder, Tony and May. But when they spotted Zeus, Jen and Ruby, they stopped as one of the guards said: "Hey, what are you doing." The other guard then says: "There's no pets allowed here. Go. Shu, shu." But Tony and May turn around as May says: "Don't you know who they are, sir?" And as the two guards look at them, Tony then says: "They're Charlie's friends. And they go where Charlie goes." Just then that Captain George sees them when he's patrolling the halls as he goes up to them and says: "Is there a problem with our VIP guests?" This causes the two guards to stand down as one of them says: "No sir. Just making sure that they're safe, sir." And the other guard says: "Carry on."

This allows Zeus, Jen and Ruby to go forward as Captain George resumes his patrol. Tony and May then return to the group as May says: "That was close." And Tony says: "Yeah, it's a good thing they haven't noticed Capra, or we would be in real trouble. Right, Capra?" Then Capra appears from behind Tony's shirt as he nods. And as the group heads down the hall, Zeus, Jen and Ruby head down a different hall as they want to see Charlie. But when they turn a corner, they get knocked back by the four performers in blue masks. And when they look at the performers, they see then walking away from them as Jen can't believe how rude they are. And while Ruby agrees, Zeus looks confused as he lets Jen and Ruby know that the scent he smelled is familiar, but he doesn't know who. In the groom's room. The servants are putting in the final touches on Charlie's new wedding suit as Captain George enters the room as he says: "Excited for your big day?" Charlie then looks at George and says: "Yeah. Though it feels like a dream, even though I'm seeing this for myself." George then started to laugh as he said: "Oh, I can understand. Though it's surprising for me that you would be the one that captured her heart." George then calms down as he then says: "Still, from what I saw for when you were a peon for two days, I have no doubt that you will lead this kingdom well." This makes Charlie happy as he says:" Thank you, Captain."

In the halls. One of the maids is carrying a tray of wine and glasses for Princess Maria as she is excited to serve them. But as she's heading to her room, unbeknownst to her, a performer with a blue mask is hiding behind one of the pillars in the room. And when the performer sees her, he leaves his hiding spot and quickly runs up to her. He then grabs her as he unsheathes his hidden blade from his wrist and points it at her throat as the maid is suddenly scared as he quietly says: "Stay quiet if you value your life. Is the tray for the princess?" Fearing for her life if she answers him wrong or speaking, she nods her head. This causes him to retract his hidden blade, then covers her mouth and grabs her to prevent her from screaming or getting away as he drags her to a separate room. During the struggle, the wine spills a bit from the glass as it hits the tray. Once in a separate room, he stripped the maid of her uniform and tied her up with rope, before proceeding to gag her with a cloth. Once the maid is tied up, he proceeds to put on the maid uniform as he heads to the tray. He then proceeds to pour some powder dust into the Princess's wine glass as it evaporates in the drink. Knowing that the drink is now poisoned, he carries the tray out of the room as the maid is now worried about her and the Princess's life.

In Maria's Room. The maids are working hard on Maria's wedding dress as Skarlet waits for the dress to finish as she says: "I have to say… It must be pretty exciting to marry someone you know and love… And yet, you're the only one that's pretty nervous, Maria." And as Skarlet sees, Maria is pretty flustered with her face blushing with red as the maids work on her dress. Though Maria then says: "Easy for you to say. A lot of things could happen at the wedding and there's a chance that the wedding would be ruined and there's also a chance that Charlie would stop the wedding and-" But Skarlet interrupts Maria as she says: "It's fine, Maria. There's no need to be nervous. You're only marrying the man you met in town and fall in love with." Even though Maria is not her usual self, she ends up saying: "Hey, I can calm myself down." But when they hear a knock on a door, Maria panics as she flees and hides behind a shelf as the maid is surprised. Skarlet then goes over to the door and opens it to see a maid with a tray of drinks and a wine bottle, which causes Skarlet to look back and says: "Don't worry, it's not him." This causes Maria to peek her head out as she gets flustered with embarrassment as Skarlet grabs the tray. The maid then bows her head as Skarlet closes the door.

Unbeknownst to them, the "maid" is actually an assassin that was with the four performers with the blue masks. As the assassin looks to his left to see if anyone is coming, he hears Skarlet's voice saying: "You sure are jumpy." And as the assassin looks at his right, he hears Maria's voice saying: "Give me a break, I thought that he was going to be there." Once the assassin knows that nobody is coming, he looks at the door as he hears Skarlet saying: "Tell you what, why don't we have a drink to calm your nerves." And once the assassin hears Maria's voice saying: "Very well…" He crouches down and peeks through the keyhole as he sees Skarlet and Maria with the wine glass as they cling their glass as they said: "Cheers." The two then drink their glass of wine, which is something the assassin wants. After they finished their drink, Skarlet proceeded to say: "Ah… Now doesn't that make you feel relaxed?" Maria, on the other hand, was silent for a second. But then she grabs her throat as she drops her wine glass, before proceeding to fall backwards as the maids quickly catch her. This scares Skarlet as she says: "Maira?! What's wrong?! Answer me, Maria! Maria!" This causes the assassin to smile as he has completed his goal as he stands up and flees the halls.

In the groom's room. Zeus, Jen and Ruby manage to find the room that Charlie is in as they wait for Charlie to be ready. Khan then makes his way to the door and knocks on the door as he says: "If you are ready, we would like to escort you to the receptionist." And Charlie replied: "Okay." Khan then looks at the three and smiles at them as a friendly gesture. Khan then opens the door as they see Charlie in a fancy black suit and a white flower on the suit. Zeus, Jen and Ruby are amazed by his suit and how he looks as he looks like a real prince. As they enter the room, Charlie looks at them as he says: "So… How do I look?" Khan then says: "You look fantastic, Charlie. And I'm sure that Maria would say the same thing." Khan then bows his head as he then says: "Now let us escort you to the receptionist."

Before Charlie could do something, smoke started to fill the room as it blocked their view. As they get disoriented, the three performers with blue masks enter the room as they push Khan, Zeus, Jen and Ruby away. Before Charlie could react, the third performer goes up to him and gut him in the chest, which stuns him. This allows the third performer to grab him and carry him over the shoulder as they leave the room. Once George gets the sense of what's going on, he quickly charges at them as he says: "Hold it right there!" But the second performer manages to punch George and knock him to the ground as they flee. Once in the halls, Charlie tries to figure out how he can get out when he hears one of the performers saying: "We'll need to hurry and get him tied up if we're intending on taking this kingdom back, Emily." Hearing that name has shocked Charlie as he realizes that these performers are really Emily and her goons. This causes Emily to say: "Good. And once our friend takes care of Maria, there's no one left that will get in our way." This causes Charlie to say: "What are you going to do with her?!" And Emily replied: "Oh don't worry, you weak boy. You'll find out soon enough." Emily then starts to laugh as they run down the hall while carrying Charlie.

In the courtyard of the castle. The maids are finishing setting the tables for the banquet after the wedding when they spot King Lionhart, Queen Oracle, and Nicole entering the courtyard as they stop what they were doing and bow to them. As Lionhart and Oracle check out the food, Lionhart says: "You know, I think we can give this kingdom to them after they get married." Oracle then says: "I must say, I agree. It's a perfect time for us to retire." Oracle then looks at Nicole as she says: "Perhaps you can stay around and help them out, Nicole." This surprises Nicole as she says: "You sure, your highness?" And Lionhart then says: "Of course. Our daughter does trust you. And I'm sure that our grandchildren could use your wisdom." Nicole then thinks to herself as she can understand what they're coming from. And there's a chance that they could be in danger, so Nicole says: "Very well. I'll accomplish your wish."

"Your majesty! Your Majesty!" Khan said as Lionhart, Oracle and Nicole look over as they see Khan looking depressed as Lionhart says: "Ah, Khan. Is the groom at the reception?" But Khan says:" I bring terrible news… The Groom… The groom has been kidnapped." This shocks Lionhart, Oracle and Nicole as Lionhart says: "What?!" As Oracle feels weak and Nicole holds on to her so that she doesn't faint, Lionhart then says: "What happened?!" and Khan then explains: "I do not know… I was about to escort the groom when the room was filled with smoke. The next thing that I knew, I was attacked by some thugs with blue masks. And when I regain consciousness, the groom is gone." This causes Lionhart to get angry as he says: "Those fiends…." He then looks at Khan and says: "And where's Captain George?!" Khan then explains: "He went to get the troops to block off the exits…"

Before Lionhart could say something, one of the maids screamed as it caught the four's attention. As they see a maid looking up and scared as she's walking back, causing them to look up. And much to their horror, they see on the roof of the castle is Charlie as he's tied up in some chains while the four performers with blue masks are behind him. One of the blue masks then says: "I hope you don't mind us joining in, but we have some unfinished business." They then recognize who it is as Lionhart said: "Emily…. How dare you interrupt this wonderful day!" But Emily pulled the chain that was wrapped around Charlie's neck as she says: "This wedding is not your concern. Surrender your kingdom to me or this groom will never reunite with her." This causes Lionhart to say: "You coward…" Nicole then says: "I must hurry and find Maria!" As Nicole hurries out of the courtyard, some of the guests make their way to the courtyard as they wonder what the commotion is, including the Lestorms, Tony, May and Cinder. And when the Lestorms see Charlie in danger, Nancy shouted: "Charlie!" Alex and Max then look at each other as Max says: "Let's go, Alex!" Alex nodded as he said: "Right!" Alex and Max then leave the courtyard as Tony looks at May as he says: "We have to help Charlie." May then says: "Right." As May grabs Tony, the two teleport as Cinder leaves the courtyard to help him.

In the stairway. Zeus, Jen and Ruby are making their way up the stairway as they hurry to save Charlie. Once they made it to the top of the stairway, they hurry to save Charlie, when they're stopped by the two Houndooms as Emily then says: "Surrender your kingdom to me now, or he will hang here for all eternity!" And as Lionhart yelled: "Don't you dare!" As Jen and Ruby are scared by the two Houndooms, Zeus is also scared by them. But when he looks at Charlie in danger, he gathers his courage as he prepares to face them. And once Jen and Ruby see his courage, they gain their courage as they charge at the Houndooms. The Houndooms charge at them as the two groups fight with each other. As they fight, Alex and Max manage to reach the top as they run towards them as Alex says: "Charlie!" While Max says: "Let him go!" But when Emily spots the two brothers, she proceeds to push Charlie to the edge of the roof. As Charlie manages to stop at the edge of the roof of the castle, Emily pulls the chain she has as it chokes his throat. This causes Alex and Max to stop as they said: "Charlie!" Meanwhile, Nicole is hurrying down the hall to try and find Maria and Skarlet. But when she enters Maria's room, she doesn't see anyone in the room. But she does notice a broken wine glass and a drank wine glass.

Back outside. Emily pulls the chain again as she pulls Charlie back to her grasp again as she then says: "I've given you a glimpse of what will happen to him if you don't hand over the kingdom, Lionhart. Or did you really think that we would be standing here all day?" And just as Tony, Capra and May teleported behind some pillars on the roof, Lionhart says: "You think you can get away with this?!" As Tony and May observe the situation, Nicole hurries over to Lionhart as she says: "My lord. Princess Maria and Skarlet are nowhere to be found." This scares Lionhart and Oracle as Emily then says: "There's no need to worry about her. She's sleeping for all eternity." Hearing that has shocked Charlie, but then he calms himself down. There's no way they've gotten Maria… If they have… My heart would have known… As this was going on, Tony and May are still hiding as Tony says: "This is bad… If we try to help him, they push him over the edge." May then look at Tony as she says: "Can you use your crystal ball to see how we can help." Tony then says: "Well… I'll try." Tony then takes out his crystal ball as Capra comes out and looks at the crystal ball. While the three are staring at the crystal ball, Emily says: "Last chance! What will you do, Lionhart!" As Lionhart thinks to himself, Cinder manages to reach the roof of the castle as she sees what's going on. As Cinder sees Alex and Max stuck in a standstill from Emily's goon, as well as Zeus, Jen and Ruby struggling with the two Houndooms as she knows she needs to step in now. After thinking about it, Lionhart then says: "Very well, Emily…" And as Nicole says: "Don't do it!" But just as Cinder is about to cast her spell and Tony is about to see what's in the crystal ball, Lionhart proceeds to say: "I hereby declare that Castle of Espérer…"

"...shall never fall in the hands of you, Emily!" Hearing that has shocked and caught everybody's attention as they turn to the source of the voice as Tony notices the crystal ball as he says: "Look!" It was then that they were surprised and amazed as they saw Maria in a white battle dress and carrying a rapier as Charlie says: "Maria!" This causes one of Emily's goons to say: "How… I saw you drank that poison drink!" But Maria then says: "You think I would fall for that trick!" Maria then grabs the banner as she draws her sword, before proceeding to swing down towards the goons as she kicks the two goons. As the two get knocked down, with one of them getting up as he draws his sword, Alex and Max notice an opportunity as Alex says: "Let's go!" The goon then attacks Maria with the short sword, but Maria is able to deflect the blade and push him away to the wall, which knocks the mask off as it reveals to be the assassin that poisoned the drink. Before the assassin could move, he gets piled on by Alex and Max. The other goon draws his sword as he charges at her as the two clash blades as Maria says: "As long as I can still breathe, I will never let this kingdom fall in your hands!" After a few clashes, Maria slashes the mask off the goon's head, which reveals to be Lucard. This allows Tony and May to run up and grab Lucard as he drops his sword as Maria shouts out: "Now, Skarlet!" Skarlet then appears from where Maria was as she says: "We got our scouts ready, Princess Maria!" It was then that several soldiers appeared with rifles as they pointed them at Emily and the last goon. As Maria faces Emily, Charlie says: "It looks like your plan had failed, Emily. I know that Maria is still around." And Emily says: "How did you manage to survive that poison, Maria?!" And Maria replied: "Your plan was doom to fail, Emily. I know you will try something like this."

While they know of their plan now, they weren't aware of the assassination plan earlier. But when Skarlet grabs the tray, she notices the spilled drink on the tray as she knew something was wrong. While the spilled drink is not suspicious, what the assassin doesn't know is that the maid he tied up would often apologize over minor things. So when Skarlet sees that the maid didn't apologize, she knew right then and there that something is up. So when Skarlet closes the door, she turns and signals Maria of the danger as she says: "You sure are jumpy." Knowing Skarlet's signal, Maria goes over to the tray as they examine the drinks as Maria says: "Give me a break, I thought that he was going to be there." Believing that the drink is poisoned, Maria and Skarlet grab their glasses as they pour their drink onto some plants. And while the plant Skarlet poured into remained fine, the plant that Maria poured into started to withered quickly as they concluded that only Maria's drink was poisoned. And as Skarlet grabs the bottle, she says: "Tell you what, why don't we have a drink to calm your nerves." Skarlet then poured some drinks into the two wine glasses as they determined that the bottle hasn't been tampered with as Maria says: "Very well…" Maria then grabs the wine glass from Skarlet as they take their positions. Thinking that the assassin is watching them now, they proceed to cling their glasses as they say: "Cheers." The two then drink their drinks as Skarlet says: "Ah… Now that doesn't make you feel relaxed." And Maria proceeds to fall backwards as the maids catch her. This lets Skarlet know to act scared as she goes up to her and says: Maira?! "What's wrong?! Answer me, Maria! Maria!" They then waited for a few moments, before Maria ope her eyes as they thought they fooled the assassin.

As Skarlet and the soldiers get close to Emily and the other goon, Maria says: "No matter how many times you plan on taking over this kingdom, we will never let it fall into your hands." And as Emily backed up while pulling Charlie, the last goon pulled out his big sword as he said: "You'll pay for this!" As he charges after Maria, Skarlet deflects the blow from the blade with her sword. And as the goon tries to charge, he ends up stopping as the soldiers point their rifles at him as it forces the goon to stop as the mask falls from the head as it reveals to be Razor. With Emily being the last one, she ends up tossing a smoke bomb onto the ground as it blinded everyone with smoke, before proceeding to toss Charlie at Maria. As Maria catches Charlie, the smoke clears as she sees Emily fleeing to the clocktower. As Maria removes the chains from Charlie, Maria says: "I'm glad that you're safe, Charlie. Now I have to make sure that Emily is taken care of." Once she frees Charlie, Maria heads towards the clock tower. As the soldiers take Emily's goons away, Charlie looks at the clock tower as he fears if Emily would bested Maria as he proceeds to make his way to the clock tower. But Skarlet tries to stop him as she says: "Wait, Charlie. You can't go up there. Just let us take care of this." But Charlie ends up saying: "I can't. I know that she's the best sword fighter, but I have to be there for her when she needs help." It was then that Max says: "Here, Charlie." As Charlie looks at Max, Max tosses him the assassin's sword as Charlie says: "Thanks, Max." Charlie then proceeds to the clock tower.

At the top of the clock tower, Maria makes her way up the stairs as she spots Emily. Once she reaches the top of the clock tower, she proceeds to say: "There's nowhere left to run, Emily." As Emily remains silent, Maria then says: "If you think that you can take over the kingdom through force, you can think again since the citizens will never follow you." But it was then that Emily started to laugh as she says: "Oh, it's not power that I'm looking for. All I want is control of the kingdom. And with my control, I will decide the fate of the citizens." Though Maria walks towards her with her rapier ready as she says: "Control? What is it that you want to control?" And Emily then says: "To control the humans and make them inferior to Pokemon. I know that if I don't control them, then they will control the Pokemon." As Emily got her sword ready, Maria proceeded to say: "That will never happen, Emily. There's no way that they will follow you." And Emily says: "Oh I'll make sure they will. Too bad that you won't be around for when it happens!" Emily then charges at Maria with her sword as Maria blocked her attack with her rapier. Emily proceeds to attack her aggressively as Maria dodges her attacks, which causes some of Emily's attacks to hit the railing and the walls of the clock towers. This allows Maria to hit Emily's mask as it breaks apart as it reveals her face. But Emily then starts to laugh as she says: "You'll have to do better than that!" She then charges at Maria with her sword as Maria tries to block her attacks as she backs up. But then Maria reaches the edge of the clock tower as she almost falls off the clock tower. And just as Emily's about to attack, Maria dodges her attack as she rolls forward towards the stairway. But she ends up stumbling as she drops her rapier down the stairs and sprains her foot. As Maria struggles to get up, Emily starts to laugh as she walks up to Maria and says: "It looks like the only way you're going is down, Princess."

But just as Emily raises her sword in the air and Maria fears for her life, Charlie gets to the top of the clock tower as he blocks Emily's strike. Maria is surprised as she says: "Charlie!" As Emily stumbles back, she looks at Charlie as she says: "You?!" As Charlie says: "I won't let you harm Maria, Emily. I will protect her with my life." As Charlie prepares himself, Emily says: "Then you will perish with her!" The two then clash blades as Emily goes on the offence while Charlie goes on the defence. As the two continue to clash, Maria crawls over to one of the corners of the clock tower walls in an effort to get on her feet. As Emily and Charlie continue to clash, Emily proceeds to trip Charlie as he trips on the ground. This allows Emily to raise her sword as she tries to stab Charlie as he rolls away from her attacks. As Maria gets herself up, she looks over and sees the situation as she shouted: "Charlie!" As Charlie continues to dodge Emily's attack, Emily stops her attack as she looks and sees Maria. Realizing her opportunity, Emily makes her way towards Maria as she says: "It's like I said before, Princess. It looks like the only way you're going is down!" Maria knew that she can't move out of the way again as there's only one way to avoid her attack. As Charlie got up as he said: "Maria!" Maria drops down from the clock tower as Charlie slides to grab her hand to prevent her from falling, while Emily ends up hitting the wall of the clock tower. This causes the debris of the wall to fly off and landed in her eyes, which blinded her. As Emily stumbles around as she steps off the clock tower as Maria says: "Look out, Emily!" But it was too late. Emily ends up falling from the clock tower as she screams for her life. But her screams fade as she falls further away, then her screams fell silent when she lands on the ground.

As Charlie pulls Maria up from the clock tower, the two Houndooms that were dealing with Zeus, Jen and Ruby look over and hurries over to see if their former master is okay. With Emily defeated, everyone looks up at the clock tower to see Charlie and Maria together. And at the top of the clock tower. Charlie and Maria look down at where Emily has fallen as they have finally beaten Emily and her plan to take over the kingdom. And as the sun shines on the two of them, Maria and Charlie look at each other as she proceeds to hug him as she says: "I know that they would often see me as the best sword fighter in the kingdom… But thank you for saving me, my hero…" And Charlie embraces her back as he is glad to have helped her through the times that they've been together with her being the Princess and her being a civilian.

In the chapel room. The wedding went off without any more hitches as Charlie sees Maria in beautiful wedding attire. And as they are together, the two kneel down for Lionhart and Oracle as they walk up to them. Oracle then removes her crown as she says: "Princess Maria. I hereby give you my crown and title of Queen. May you help bring this kingdom towards a hopeful future." And as she places her crown on Maria's head, Lionhart then says: "Charlie. You will receive the crown and title of King. You will bring honour and courage to this kingdom as you protect those that you love." As Lionhart places his crown on Charlie's head, Lionhart and Oracle back away as Lionhart then say: "As our last command in the kingdom, I hereby declare to you your new King and Queen of Espérer." Hearing that, the crowd in the chapel began to cheer as both Charlie and Maria got up from the ground. They then look at each other as they proceed to give a passionate kiss.

In the courtyard. Charlie and Maria step outside as they hear the applause from the citizens for being the new King and Queen of Espérer. As they step down the stairs, they wave to the citizens as they thank them for their support. Among the crowd, the Lestorms are congratulating them for their successful wedding and Charlie's growth while Nancy is away. There's also Tony, Capra and May as they cheer for their marriage and praise them for their time together. There's also Roberto and Elizabeth as Elizabeth is playing her music with the band as Roberto watches. And there's Isabelle and Lucy, who are enjoying the food as they are grateful for being invited to their wedding, even though they kidnapped him way earlier. As Charlie and Maria make their way to the carriage, a Kirlia, a Riolu and a Buneary watch them as a Kirlia says: "I wonder if I'll be like Charlie?" Though a Buneary then says: "I doubt it. He must have lots of money to get her attention." And a Riolu says: "He's also a strong nobleman as well." "Actually. Charlie managed to get her attention through his hard work." Cinder says as the three turns and looks at her as a Kirlia says: "Really? You mean we can be like him if we work hard?" Cinder then says: "Of course." This also causes a Riolu to say: "Can it also happen to me?" And a Buneary also says: "Can it happen to me as well?" And Cinder nodded as well as she said: "Of course." As the three are amazed, Charlie and Maria enter the carriage as the carriage drives off. As the carriage drives off, the two prepare themselves for their new lives together in the future.

**THE END**


End file.
